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THE STATE CAPITOL, SPRINGFIELD 















Illinois and the Nation 

A Practical Treatise on State and National Civics 


BY 

OLIVER R. TROWBRIDGE 
Member of the Bloomington Bar 

AND 


GILBERT P. RANDLE 
Superintendent of Schools 
Danville , Illinois 


1923 


A. Flanagan Company— Chicago 









PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

JAN 11 *24 

©C1A7CG688 


Ti l l 



FOREWORD 


The author has so organized his subject matter that the 
teacher has ready at hand an abundance of material for the 
acquiring of knowledge as to the machinery of govern¬ 
ment—local, state, and national. So far as possible the 
author has gone into the theory of government. 

The teacher is a necessary supplement to any text-book. 
Try to bring this study home to the pupil by giving him 
questions to look up outside the class—such as “Who is 
the mayor? By whom elected? For how long? If he is 
not a good official how does that affect you?” Go through 
the form of holding a Presidential election, a meeting of the 
city council, and a nominating convention. 

Above all, remember the pupil likes' a subject which is 
definitely presented to him. Some teachers are afraid to 
assign work which requires a definite statement of fact 
for the answer. Do not make this mistake. When a pupil 
has made a topical recitation follow this by simple direct 
questions to test not only what he knows, but how he knows 
it and what use he can make of this knowledge. Remember 
that every subject has its own vocabulary and that a pupil 
never becomes proficient in a subject until the peculiar 
vocabulary of the subject is at his command. Have pupils 
keep lists of the new words or words used in new meanings, 
and frequently review these words by using them in short, 
pointed sentences until their use becomes easy. For illus¬ 
tration : executive, ex post facto, enactment, habeas corpus,, 
enacting clause, jurisdiction, electoral, etc. 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


After a chapter has been studied, test for the main 
facts by using a series of questions which may be answered 
by a single word or phrase—as: 

1. What official is the chief executive of the state? 

2. Who presides over the House of Representatives? 

3. How many senatorial districts are there in Illinois? 

4 . In what congressional district do you live? 
Frequently review in this way, being careful to change 
the form and order of your questions. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Government in the Community and in the Nation 7 

II. State Government. 13 

III. The Divisions of the State. 49 

IV. County Government. * . 54 

V. Town Government. 66 

VI. City and Village Government. 79 

VII. Commission Form of Municipal Government. 84 

VIII. Public School System. 90 

IX. The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. 108 

X. Miscellaneous. 119 

XI. National Government . 133 


APPENDIX 

Constitution of the United States . 200 

Constitution of Illinois . 219 

The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois . 264 

Index . 307 
















ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The State Capitol, Springfield. Frontispiece 

The Senate Chamber, Springfield. 12 

Illinois Supreme Court Building, Springfield. Facing 42 

The Assembly Chamber, Springfield. Facing 43 

Illinois State Normal University, Normal. Facing 92 

Eastern Illinois State Normal School, Charleston Facing 93 

The United States Capitol, Washington, D. C. 134 

The White House, Washington, D. C..Facing 164 

The United States Treasury, Washington, D. C.Facing 165 

MAPS 

Illinois— County Boundaries and Population, 1910 . 129 

Illinois— Congressional Districts. 130 

Illinois— Senatorial Districts. 131 

Illinois— Judicial Circuits. 132 














ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


CHAPTER I 

GOVERNMENT IN THE COMMUNITY AND IN 
THE NATION 

What is “the government”? What is the necessity 
for government? To what extent are you a part of the 
government? What has the government to do with your 
personal safety? With your health? With the protec¬ 
tion of your brother, sister, or other relatives? With your 
education? With your care when you are sick or injured? 
With your safety in travel? With the security of your 
property? How is government exercised in the home? 
In the school? In the community? In the city? The 
county? The state? The Nation? What things can best 
be done for you by the National government? By the 
state government? By the government of the county or 
of the community? Which affects you more particularly, 
the National government or the state government? 

How is the government to pay for the work which it 
has performed? For keeping the highways in order? 
For supporting the schools? For caring for the health of 
the people? For protecting the people from attack by 
other nations on land or sea? 

What are taxes? How are they levied, collected, and 
expended? Why are taxes necessary? What is the ob¬ 
jection to taxes which are unnecessarily heavy or which 
are not equitably distributed? 

7 



8 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


In every community should not at least these things 
be done for the inhabitants of the community? Roads 
and walks, built and kept in repair; protection provided 
against danger by fire; officers to arrest and imprison 
thieves and other wrongdoers; schoolhouses built and 
kept in repair and teachers employed. If these things are 
to be done, are not officers necessary to see that they are 
done? How are these expenses to be met? 

Suggest other things which must be done for the com¬ 
munity as a whole and which should be paid for by the 
community as a whole. 

Necessity for Government. When you have deliber¬ 
ated upon the above questions you will have realized that 
government is necessary and that those who do the work 
of the government must be paid for their services, or at 
least must have the means of paying others for services 
rendered or for materials and property used for the pur¬ 
pose of the government. 

Do you fully realize the significance of Lincoln’s ref¬ 
erence to a “Government of the people, by the people, for 
the people”? 

How About Your Community? In your community 
have you good roads? If so what is the title of the officer 
or officers whose duty it is to look after the building of 
these roads? How are these roads paid for? If you do 
not have good roads, who is to blame? Is your money 
wasted on the roads in your community? If the roads are 
poor who is most to blame, the road officials or the 
people? 

In your community is every effort put forth to have a 
good, commodious sanitary school building with proper 
grounds, water supply, etc., and with proper heating and 


COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT 


9 


lighting? What is the title of the officers whose duty it is 
to provide these things? If these things are not provided 
to what extent are the, people of your community to 
blame? 

In your community is there a public library? If so 
how is it supported? What are its officers? If you have 
no library how might one be secured for your com¬ 
munity? 

In your community is great care exercised to see that 
all water used, for drinking and cooking is entirely safe? 
Do your people understand thaj; each family feels that it 
has the best well in the community and yet that very well 
may contain water most dangerous to life? 

Have you parks and playgrounds in your community? 
If not, can you do anything to awaken an interest in the 
buying and developing of parks? 

From what has been said do you realize that you are 
a part of the government, that the government does its 
work for your welfare, and for the welfare of your family 
and friends, that to do this work taxes must be paid, that 
it is important that your parents take an active interest in 
seeing that the best people are nominated and elected to 
office, that they are reelected as long as they give good 
service and are defeated if they do not? 

Do you realize that the government of your own com¬ 
munity, city, and county and particularly of your state is 
of paramount importance, and that while you should be 
interested in who is chosen president of the United States 
you should be equally interested in even the smallest com¬ 
munity election. 


10 


ILLINOIS AND THE’NATION 


The Family, the Community, the State, and the 
Nation 

Many of the affairs of life are controlled by the family 
government of which the father and mother are the head. 
Several families living near each other make up a com¬ 
munity where questions arise which concern more than a 
single family. If the community be small it may be 
organized into a village and certain officers chosen to see 
that the interests of the community are cared for and safe¬ 
guarded. If the community increases in size, a city with 
its mayor, council, fire department, police department, 
etc., takes up the more complex matters of community 
control. To control the relations between communities, 
villages, and cities, which are near together, counties are 
organized which construct and maintain highways and 
establish courts of justice for settling difficulties between 
the citizens of different communities. These counties 
.also elect officers to enforce the law and to arrest those 
who offend against the law. Above the county, is the 
state, too little thought is ordinarily given to the state 
and its laws. To a very great degree, it is the state which 
regulates the great affairs of our lives. It controls com¬ 
merce within the state. It provides the general laws for 
the incorporation and control of villages and cities. It 
largely governs us in all of the great relations of life in¬ 
cluding those of husband and wife, parent and child, 
guardian and ward, and principal and agent. Above the 
state, is the Nation which has to do with our relations 
with other nations in peace and in war. 

The Nation provides for post offices and post roads, 
issues money and regulates its value; provides national 


COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT 


11 


courts, regulates commerce between the several states 
and with foreign natioris. It provides and supports the 
army and navy. 

In many respects the town and city are independent of. 
the state, and the state is independent of the Nation. 
The founders of our government have sought to take no 
power from the local community unless it can be better 
exercised by one of the larger units of government. 

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are re¬ 
served to the states respectively or to the people.” 
(Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.)' 



THE SENATE CHAMBER, SPRINGFIELD 












CHAPTER II 


STATE GOVERNMENT 

Three Departments. As in the nation, so in the state, 
there are three departments of government: The legis¬ 
lative, executive, and judicial. The first makes the laws, 
the second executes the laws, the third interprets the 
laws and decides disputes arising under them. 

The three departments, however, are not entirely 
distinct. The governor, an executive officer, has the 
power to veto all laws passed by the legislature. The 
legislature has judicial power in cases of impeachment 
and executive power in confirming appointments made 
; by the governor. The judiciary have a form of executive 
power in compelling men to obey the laws and officers 
to perform their duties, as in cases of mandamus. 

Legislative Department 

The State Legislature. The law making body of 
Illinois is the General Assembly, which consists of two 
Houses: The Senate, or “Upper House,” and the House 
of Representatives, or “Lower House.” The General 
Assembly is commonly known as the “legislature.” 

How Designated. The different General Assemblies 
are designated by number, as the First General Ass'em- 
bly, the Thirty-eighth General Assembly, etc. Each 

13 


14 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


General Assembly lasts two years, and in that time holds 
but one regular session. What is the number of the 
present General Assembly? Has it held its regular 
session ? 

Time and Place of Meeting. The General Assembly 
holds its regular session at Springfield every two years, 
the sessions commencing at twelve o’clock noon on the 
Wednesday next after the first Monday of January of 
the odd numbered years. 

Senatorial Districts. Every ten years, at the first ses¬ 
sion after the taking of the census, the General Assembly 
divides the state into fifty-one senatorial districts. These 
districts must contain as nearly as practicable the same 
number of inhabitants, must be formed of contiguous and 
compact territory, and be bounded by county lines. But 
a county containing not less than one and three-fourths 
of the senatorial ratio may be divided into separate dis¬ 
tricts according to the number of times it contains the 
ratio. No district can contain less than four-fifths of 
the senatorial ratio. The senatorial ratio is found by 
dividing the number expressing the population of the 
state by fifty-one. 

The districts are numbered from one to fifty-one. In 
what district do you live? 

Number of Senators and Representatives. One Sen¬ 
ator and three Representatives are elected from each 
senatorial district. How many members are there in 
each house? 

Election of Members. Members of the General As¬ 
sembly are elected on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday of November of the even numbered years. At 
every election all of the members of the next Lower 
House are elected, and half the members of the next 
Senate, the Senators from the even numbered districts 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


15 


being chosen at one election, and those from the odd 
numbered at the next. Because half of its members 
“hold over” at each session, the Senate is sometimes 
called the “permanent” house of the General Assembly. 
Were the Senators chosen at the last election from the 
odd or even numbered districts? 

Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in either house, 
if the legislature is in session, or if there will be a session 
before the next regular election of members to the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, the Governor orders a special election in 
the district affected to fill the vacancy. If the vacancy 
does not occur under these conditions it is not filled until 
the next regular election. 

Minority Representation. There are three members 
of the Lower House elected at the same time in every 
senatorial district. Every voter has the right to vote 
for the three men, giving each one vote; for two men, 
giving to each one and a half votes; or for one man, 
giving him three votes. A voter may also give two votes 
to one man and one to another, or distribute his votes in 
two or three other ways, but he is not likely to do so. 
By this plan the party in the minority can usually elect 
one man by having but one candidate and giving him all 
the votes. How large must the minority be to elect one 
man? 

Usually the party in the majority nominates two can¬ 
didates, and the one in the minority nominates one 
candidate. In this case a nomination is equivalent to an 
election unless a second minority party develops unex¬ 
pected strength in voting for a single candidate. When 
two parties are nearly equally strong each one may nom¬ 
inate two candidates. In this case, the friends of one 
candidate will give three votes for their favorite, instead 
of one and a half for each candidate on the ticket. This 


16 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


is called “plumping,” and may sacrifice party to personal 
interests. 

In 1870, by a special vote, the section of the Consti¬ 
tution relating to minority representation was adopted. 
What are its advantages? Its disadvantages? Do you 
know of any other state that has minority representation? 

Term of Members. The members of the Lower House 
are elected for two years, and those of the Upper House 
for four years. 

Eligibility of Members. Senators must be twenty- 

five, and Representatives twenty-one years of age. Both 
must be citizens of the United States, residents of the 
state five years, and of their respective districts the two 
years preceding their election. 

Neither Senators nor Representatives can hold any 
office under the state, the United States, or any foreign 
government, excepting appointments in the militia, and 
the offices of notary public and justice of the peace. 

No person can be a Senator or Representative after he 
has been convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous 
crime, or after he has failed to account for and pay over 
all public moneys collected or held by him at any time. 
The laws of Illinois name the crimes which are “infa¬ 
mous” in this state. 

What is bribery? What is perjury? 

Oath of Members. In addition to the usual oath of 
office, every Senator or Representative is required to 
swear (or affirm) that he has not paid anything, or made 
any promise in the nature of a bribe, to influence any 
vote at the time of his election; and that he has not 
received, and will not accept, anything from any cor¬ 
poration or person for any vote or influence he may give 
or withhold on any bill, resolution, or appropriation, or 
for any official act. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


17 


The oath is subscribed by each member, and is filed in 
the office of the Secretary of State. If any member 
should refuse to take the oath as prescribed by the Con¬ 
stitution, he would forfeit his office. 

What is it to subscribe an oath? 

Privileges of Members. Senators and Representa¬ 
tives are privileged from arrest in all cases except trea¬ 
son, felony, or breach of the peace, during the session of 
the General Assembly, and in going to and returning 
from it. 

Treason is defined in the third article of the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States. (See appendix.) 

In Illinois a felony is an offense punishable with death 
or with imprisonment in a penitentiary. 

What is a breach of the peace? 

No member of either house can be called to account 
at any other place for any speech or debate made in the 
house to which he is elected. This gives freedom of 
speech. A similar provision is found in the national 
Constitution. 

Disabilities of Members. No Senator or Representa¬ 
tive can be appointed by the Governor, with or without 
the consent of the Senate, to any civil office within the 
state during the term for which he is elected. 

Members of the General Assembly cannot be inter¬ 
ested in any contract with the state, or with any county, 
which is authorized by any law passed while they are 
members, or for one year after their terms have expired. 

What reasons can you give for these disabilities? 

Salary of Members. Members of the General 
Assembly receive $3,500 for their services for the 
two years’ term, also mileage for one round trip 
necessarily traveled in going to, and returning 
from, Springfield. The mileage is computed by the 


18 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


auditor of public accounts. Fifty dollars per session is 
allowed each member for stationery, postage, newspa¬ 
pers, and other incidental expenses. Both the pay and 
the mileage allowed each member are certified to by the 
presiding officer of his house, and, having been entered 
upon the journal, are published at the close of the 
session. 

The pay of members can be changed, but not for those 
elected for the term in which the change is made. 

Quorum. A majority of the members elected to each 
house constitutes a quorum. 

What is a quorum? 

Rules. Each house determines the rules of its own 
proceedings. 

When the legislature meets, one of the first things 
that demands the attention of each house is the rules 
that are to govern its proceedings. Usually upon motion 
of some member, the rules of the last Senate or House, 
as the case may be, are adopted temporarily, and a com¬ 
mittee on permanent rules is appointed. This committee 
soon reports, giving the proposed rules in detail. The 
rules as reported by the committee are discussed, perhaps 
amended, and adopted. Some book on parliamentary 
practice, as Cushing's Manual or Roberts' Rules of Order, 
is then adopted as authority in all questions not touched 
upon by the rules adopted. 

Membership. Each house is the judge of the elec¬ 
tions, qualifications, and returns of its own members. 

It sometimes happens that two men claim election as 
Senator, or four as Representatives, from the same dis¬ 
trict. In such cases those having the proper certificates 
of election signed by the Governor are usually seated 
until the proper house can investigate the matter and 
decide between the contestants. The houses are not 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


19 


always impartial judges in cases of contested elections 
of their respective members, sometimes permitting poli¬ 
tics to influence their vote. But it is thought that no 
other body should decide these cases. 

Certificates of election are called “credentials.” 

After every election for members of the General 
Assembly, all county clerks make abstracts of the elec¬ 
tion in their respective counties, showing the number of 
votes received by each candidate. The abstracts are 
called the “returns” of the election, and may be ques¬ 
tioned as to their genuineness or accuracy. 

The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney- 
General, or any two of them, in the presence of the 
Governor, examine and count all the returns, and publish 
the result of the election. 

Officers, How Chosen. Each house chooses its own 
officers. 

Officers of the House. The usual officers of the 
House are speaker, clerk and three assistants, door¬ 
keeper and three assistants, postmaster and one assist¬ 
ant, enrolling and engrossing clerk and two assistants. 
The speaker is a member of the House. 

Officers of the Senate. The usual officers of the 
Senate are president, president pro tempore, secretary 
and two assistants, sergeant at arms, postmaster and one 
assistant. 

Speaker. It is the duty of the speaker to preside over 
the House, to sign all bills passed by the House, to 
appoint the standing committees and most of the special 
committees. 

Committees. There are about forty-five standing 
committees of the House, each consisting of from three 
to twenty-five, or more, members. Usually a majority of 
each committee are members of the same political party 


20 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


as the speaker. The chairman of the committee is named 
in the appointment. 

All measures concerning the state’s finances are re¬ 
ferred to the Committee on Finance. It examines them 
separately, and reports on them to the House. In the 
same way, measures concerning matters of education are 
referred to the Committee on Education. Every bill is 
considered by its appropriate committee. Only slight 
changes to the reports of committees are usually made 
by the legislature, so the committees practically control 
the legislature. For this reason chairmanships of impor¬ 
tant committees are much sought after by the friends of 
the speaker. 

President of the Senate. The duties of the president 
of the Senate are about the same as those of the speaker. 
He is elected by the people under the title of Lieutenant- 
Governor, and is not a member of the Senate. He has no 
vote, except when the Senate is evenly divided. The 
speaker is always a member of the House, and, as such, 
has a vote on all questions. Many people think that if a 
member of a body is chosen chairman he has no vote 
except in case of a tie. This is a mistake. If the chair¬ 
man be a member of the body over which he presides, 
his right to vote on any question is just the same as 
though he were not chairman. 

President Pro Tempore. The president pro tempore 
is a member of the Senate who is chosen to preside in 
the absence of the president; he does not lose his right 
to vote. 

Clerk and Secretary. The clerk of the House and the 
secretary of the Senate perform similar duties for their 
respective houses. They read the proceedings of the pre¬ 
vious day, call the roll, read bills, resolutions, and keep a 
record of the proceedings from day to day. The clerk 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


21 


is required to furnish the state printer with an exact copy 
of each day’s proceedings, so that a copy of the proceed¬ 
ings of the preceding day may be placed upon the desk 
of each member every morning. 

Doorkeeper and Sergeant at Arms. The doorkeeper 
of the House and the sergeant at arms of the Senate 
serve the processes, execute the orders of their respective 
houses, maintain order among the spectators, and pre¬ 
vent the interruption of business. They may arrest, with 
or without a warrant, any person guilty of any breach of 
the peace or crime in or about the State House and its 
grounds. 

The doorkeeper of the House announces the secretary 
of the Senate and the private secretary of the Governor 
when they wish to deliver communications and mes¬ 
sages ; he also announces the Senate when that body is 
to convene with the House in joint session. 

Enrolling and Engrossing Clerk. This officer prop¬ 
erly engrosses all bills and resolutions when ordered to 
do so by the House. When a bill originates in the 
House and is passed by both the House and the Senate, 
he enrolls it before it is laid before the Governor for his 
approval. 

Postmasters. The postmasters receive the mail for 
the members of their respective houses from the govern¬ 
ment postoffice and distribute it into the boxes of the 
members at the postoffice of the General Assembly. 

Other Officers. Sometimes the House has a reading 
clerk, and the Senate a bill clerk, whose duties may be 
inferred from their titles. The president and speaker 
have each a private secretary. 

Employees. Besides the officers, there are several 
employees. There are about twenty clerks of commit¬ 
tees ; also a number of policemen and pages. The pages 


22 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


are boys who wait upon the members, and carry mes¬ 
sages for the speaker and president. Sometimes girls 
serve as pages. Each house may employ a chaplain. 

Organization of the House. The Secretary of State 
calls the House of Representatives to order at the open¬ 
ing of each new General Assembly, and presides until a 
temporary speaker has been chosen and has taken his 
seat. Since none of the Representatives hold over from 
the last session, no one of the members present is author¬ 
ized to call the House to order. 

Immediately after the House is called to order by the 
Secretary of State, prayer is offered, and the roll of the 
House is called. The House then proceeds to elect a 
temporary speaker and other temporary officers. After 
the members have taken the oath of office, they decide 
what officers and employees the House shall have, and 
proceed to elect the former. The employees are nearly 
all appointed by the speaker after his election. 

Expulsion of Members. No member can be expelled 
from either house except by a vote of two-thirds of all 
the members elected to that house, and no member can 
be twice expelled for the same offense. Members are 
expelled only for the most serious offenses. 

How many votes are necessary to expel a Senator? 
A Representative? 

If a member should be expelled, and his constituents 
should return him, he could not be expelled a second time 
for the same offense. 

Contempt. Each house may punish by imprisonment 
any person, not a member, for disrespect to the house, or 
for disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence. 
But no person can be imprisoned more than twenty-four 
hours at one time, except for persisting in his objection¬ 
able conduct. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


23 


Open Doors. The doors of each house, and of com¬ 
mittees of the whole, must be kept open except in cases 
when, in the opinion of that house, secrecy is required. 
Can you think of a case that would require secrecy in 
either house? 

Committee of the Whole. Sometimes, instead of re¬ 
ferring the matter to a committee, the whole house forms 
itself into a “committee of the whole,” and takes up the 
matter as a committee. When through with the subject, 
it reports to the house. 

When a legislative body goes into a committee of the 
whole, the regular chairman takes his place among the 
members, and some one else is appointed chairman of 
the committee. When the committee rises to report, the 
regular chairman takes his place again, and receives the 
report of the committee through its chairman. 

Adjournment. The Constitution says that neither 
house can, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than two days or to any other place than that in 
which the two houses are sitting. 

It sometimes happens that one house is largely of 
one party and the other house of another. In such cases 
either house could delay and defeat the measures of the 
other by adjournments, were these not restricted. 

For adjournment longer than two days and for sina die 
adjournments the two houses of Congress agree by reso¬ 
lution upon the date for adjournment. The Constitution 
provides that in case the two houses are unable to agree, 
the Governor may adjourn the legislature. 

Journals. Each house keeps a journal of its proceed¬ 
ings, which is published for distribution. 

Yeas and Nays. In the Senate, at the request of two 
members, and in the House, at the request of five mem¬ 
bers, the yeas and nays are taken on any question and are 


24 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


entered upon the journal. The clerk calls the roll of the 
house, every member votes yea or nay on the question, 
and his vote is recorded and published in the journal.. 
What are the advantages of this? 

Protest of Members. If any two members of eithei 
house wish to protest again or dissent from any action 
or vote they think in injurious to the public or to any 
person, they are at liberty to do so in respectful language, 
and have their reasons entered upon the journal. 

Style of Bills. All laws of this state begin as follows: 
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, repre¬ 
sented in the General Assembly. This is called the “enact¬ 
ing clause.” Without this a law would be void. 

Where Bills May Originate. Bills may originate in 
either house, but may be changed or rejected by the 
other. 

Final Passage of Bills. On the final passage of all 
bills the votes are taken by yeas and nays and entered 
upon the journal. 

Bills Voted upon Separately. The final vote is taken 

upon each bill separately. 

Vote Necessary. No bill becomes a law until it re¬ 
ceives the vote of a majority of all the members elected 
to each house. How many votes must a bill receive in 
the Senate? In the House? 

Three Readings Necessary. Every bill must be read 
at large on three different days in each house. 

Bills Must Be Printed. Every bill and all its amend¬ 
ments must be printed before the lastwote is taken upon 
it. The printed bills are distributed among the mem¬ 
bers, a copy of each bill being placed in the postoffice box 
of every member. No member can explain away or 
excuse his vote by saying he did not know exactly what 
the bill was about. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


25 


Signatures Necessary. After it has passed both 
houses a bill must be signed by the president of the Sen¬ 
ate and by the speaker before it is presented to the 
Governor. 

Only One Subject. No act can embrace more than 
one subject, and that must be expressed in its title. If 
any bill embraces a subject which is not expressed in its 
title, the part relating to this subject is void, but the 
remainder of the bill remains in force. 

When there was no limitation to the number of sub¬ 
jects that might be included in any bill, it was a common 
practice to put several subjects into one bill and then 
force members to vote for the objectionable parts in 
order to secure the passage of the rest of the bill. 

Every bill has a title, thus: “An act to establish and 
maintain a system of free schools” “An act to revive the 
law in relation to township organization ” 

Laws Revived or Amended. No law can be revived 
or amended by reference to its title only; the act revived 
or amended must be given in full in the new act. It is 
easy to see that all these conditions tend to prevent 
careless and evil legislation. 

What is it to repeal a law? To revive a law? To 
amend a law? 

When Laws Take Effect. An act of the General 
Assembly takes effect upon the first day of July next 
after its passage, unless in case of emergency. In such 
a case the act must receive a two-thirds vote of all the 
members elected to each house, and must have the emer¬ 
gency stated in some part of the act. The “emergency 
clause/' as it is called, is usually at the end of the act, 
and reads as follows: “Whereas an emergency exists 
(sometimes the emergency is stated), this act shall take 
effect and be in force from and after its passage." 


26 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


As a rule, laws should not take effect for some time 
after their passage, in order that the people may learn of 
them, and adjust themselves and their affairs to the new 
conditions. 

The Governor’s Veto. When a bill is passed by both 
houses, it is sent to the Governor for his signature. If he 
wishes the bill to become a law, he signs it, and so makes 
it a law. But if he does not wish it to become a law, 
he does not sign it, but sends it back to the house in 
which it originated. With it he sends his objections, 
which are written in the journal of this house, and the 
bill is again taken up. This time, in order to pass, it 
must receive the vote of two-thirds of the members 
elected. If it receives this vote in the house to which 
it is returned, it is sent, together with the objections of 
the Governor, to the other house. A vote of two-thirds 
of the members elected to this house makes it a law 
without the signature of the Governor. In all such cases 
the vote of each house must be by yeas and nays, and 
be entered upon the journal. 

If the Governor does not return a bill within ten days 
(Sundays not counted) after it is sent to him, it becomes 
a law just as if he had signed it, unless the legislature 
adjourns before the ten days are up, and so prevents its 
return. In this case, if the Governor does not want the 
bill to become a law, he can prevent it by sending his 
objections to the office of the Secretary of State within 
ten days after the legislature adjourns. 

When the Governor neither signs a bill nor returns it 
with his objections within ten days, it is called a “pocket 
veto.” 

Try to give a reason for each provision regarding the 
Governor’s veto. This will help you to understand the 
matter. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


27 


In the case of the veto power, the Governor, who is 
an executive officer, has something to do with the law¬ 
making power. His veto power is intended to act as a 
check upon the legislature. 

The word veto means “I forbid.” The message con¬ 
taining the Governor’s objections to a bill is called a 
“veto message.” 

Special Laws Prohibited. The General Assembly can¬ 
not pass a special law, or a law relating to some particu¬ 
lar case when a general law will apply. 

Under the first two Constitutions of Illinois, special 
laws were allowed except in two or three cases, and at 
some sessions they formed the bulk of the laws enacted. 
The session laws of 1857 contain 302 pages of public 
laws, and 1,450 pages of private laws. It must be kept 
in mind that laws upon these subjects are not prohibited, 
but that the laws must be general. 

Why should special legislation be prohibited in each 
of the following cases? 

Changing County Seats. The General Assembly can¬ 
not locate or change county seats by special laws. 

Since the county seat is the place where the business 
of the county is transacted, the people of the respective 
counties locate and change their county seats. The ques¬ 
tion is voted upon after due notice has been given. A 
special election is held when the question of a change 
of county seat is voted upon. Why hold an election for 
this purpose only? 

Special Charters Prohibited. The legislature cannot 
now give special charters to cities and villages; neither 
can it amend nor change any charter already given. 

Since 1870 all cities and villages have been incorpo¬ 
rated under a general law, but before that time most 
cities were incorporated by special laws known as the 


28 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


“charters” of the respective cities. If the people of a city 
are dissatisfied with their charter they cannot have it 
amended, but may vote to give it up and then organize 
under the general law. 

Rate of Interest. No special law can be passed regu¬ 
lating the rate of interest on money. No person or cor¬ 
poration can charge a higher rate of interest than that 
authorized by the general law. What is now the highest 
authorized rate? # 

Fees of Officers. The General Assembly cannot 
create or change the fees of any public officer during the 
term for which he is elected. 

Special Privileges and Immunities. No special or 
exclusive privilege or immunity can be granted to any 
person or corporation. 

A privilege implies the liberty to do something; an 
immunity implies exemption from some duty, tax, or 
obligation. 

Release of Indebtedness. The General Assembly has 
no power to release any person or corporation from 
indebtedness to the state or to any municipal corpora¬ 
tion within the state. 

Special laws are prohibited in several other cases, as 
may be found by referring to the Constitution. The 
above cases have been chosen because they relate more 
especially to the other subjects of our study. 

Public Moneys and Appropriations. The General 
Assembly can make no appropriation of money out of 
the treasury in a private law. 

Bills making appropriations for the pay of members 
and officers of the General Assembly, and for the salaries 
of the officers of the state government, must not contain 
provisions on any other subject. Were it not for this 
provision, members, in order to vote for the pay of 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


29 


themselves and others, might be obliged to vote for some 
objectionable provision. Such a provision in an appro¬ 
priation bill is called a “rider.” 

No money can be drawn from the treasury unless it 
has been appropriated for the purpose for which it is 
drawn. 

The Treasurer is forbidden to pay out any money 
except on an order issued by the State Auditor. This 
order is called the “auditor’s warrant.” 

When money has been appropriated for any given 
purpose, or belongs to any particular fund, it cannot be 
drawn or used for any other purpose. 

Within sixty days after the adjournment of each ses¬ 
sion of the General Assembly, the Auditor must publish 
an itemized statement of all money expended at that 
session. 

Each General Assembly provides for the appropria¬ 
tion necessary for all the expenses of state government 
for the next two years, or until the end of the first fiscal 
quarter after the adjournment of the next regular session. 
The aggregate amount appropriated cannot be increased 
except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected 
to each house, and in no case can it exceed the amount 
of revenue authorized by law to be raised within the two 
years. 

All appropriations, general or special, end with the 
first fiscal quarter after the adjournment of the next 
regular session. The fiscal year ends September 30. 

State Indebtedness Limited. The state, in order to 
meet accidental deficits or failures in revenue, may con¬ 
tract debts which can never exceed in the aggregate 
$250,000. All moneys thus borrowed must be applied 
to the purpose for which they were obtained, and to no 
other purpose. 


30 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


No other debts, except for the purpose of repelling 
invasion, suppressing insurrection, or defending the state 
in war, can be contracted unless by a vote of the people. 

Illinois is now virtually out of debt. 

Extra Pay Prohibited. The General Assembly can¬ 
not grant extra pay or allowance to any officer, agent, 
servant or contractor, after service has been rendered, 
or contract made. However, appropriations may be 
made for expenses incurred in repelling invasion, or 
suppressing insurrection. 

Loan of Credit Prohibited. The state can never pay 
or become responsible for the debts of any person or 
corporation, nor can it in any manner give or loan its 
credit to any such person or corporation. 

Officers Liable to Impeachment. The Governor and 
all civil officers of the state are liable to impeachment 
for any misdemeanor in office. 

It is easy to see that an officer may commit an offense 
for which he is responsible to the state as its servant, 
and to the civil authorities as a citizen. 

Thus, habitual drunkenness on the part of an officer 
would unfit him for the duties of his office, and make 
him subject to impeachment and removal from office. 
He might also be fined for drunkenness. 

Power of Impeachment. The House has the sole 
power of impeachment. Its action in such cases is sim¬ 
ilar to that of a grand jury in a criminal case, and the 
charges which it prefers are similar to an indictment. 
The House hears the evidence against an officer, and, 
if a majority of all its members so vote, the officer is 
impeached. 

Trial of Impeachment. All cases of impeachment are 
tried by the Senate. 

When an officer has been impeached by the House, 



STATE GOVERNMENT 


31 

the Senate hears the evidence for and against him, and 
if two-thirds of the Senators elected so vote, he is con¬ 
victed of the charge or charges against him. When 
trying cases of impeachment, the Senators are under 
oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to law and 
evidence. The Senate in this case acts as a jury. 

Punishment. The punishment in cases of impeach¬ 
ment can only extend as far as removal from office and 
disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit in the 
state. After impeachment and conviction as an officer, 
a man is still liable to trial and conviction in the courts 
as a citizen. 

Trial of Governor. When the Governor is tried, the 
Chief Justice of the state presides instead of the Lieuten¬ 
ant-Governor. This is the case because, if the Governor 
should be convicted and removed from office, the Lieuten¬ 
ant-Governor would become Governor; he thus might 
be interested in the result of the trial. 

State Contracts. All fuel, stationery, and printing 
paper, furnished for the use of the state, and all printing 
and binding ordered by the General Assembly must be 
let by contract to the lowest responsible bidder. No 
member of the General Assembly, or other state officer, 
can be interested directly or indirectly in any contract. 
All contracts must be approved by the Governor. The 
contracts are large, and there is a popular notion that 
men make a great deal of money out of them. 

State Cannot Be Sued. The State of Illinois can 
never be made defendant in any court of law or equity. 

This provision of our Constitution has a history. 

When the United States Constitution was submitted 
for the ratification of the thirteen states, it contained a 
detailed statement of the power of the national courts. 
Among other things this power was to extend to con- 


32 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


troversies between a state and citizens of another state. 
During Washington’s first term as President, a citizen 
of South Carolina sued the State of Georgia, and the 
supreme court of the United States decided that the case 
was within its jurisdiction by the terms of the Consti¬ 
tution. 

The several states, seeing that they were liable to 
numberless suits, caused, through their representatives, 
the proposal of an amendment to the Constitution declar¬ 
ing that “the judicial power of the United States shall 
not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, 
commenced or prosecuted against any one of the United 
States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub¬ 
jects of any foreign state.” This amendment was ratified 
by the states, and is known as the eleventh amendment. 

Lotteries Prohibited. The General Assembly has no 
power to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises for any 
purpose, and must pass laws prohibiting the sale of lot¬ 
tery or gift enterprise tickets in the state. Some states 
have not only allowed lotteries, but have conducted them 
as a means of paying off their indebtedness. 

Term of Office. No law can be passed which shall in 
any way extend the term of any public officer after his 
election or appointment. 

A few years ago a change in the time of electing 
county superintendents was made which brought the 
regular elections at one time five years apart. The super¬ 
intendents who were elected for four years did not hold 
over the fifth year, but superintendents were appointed 
by the county boards for that year. 

Protection of Miners. The General Assembly must 
pass laws for the protection of miners by requiring the 
construction of escapement shafts, appliances for ventila¬ 
tion, and other means of safety. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


33 


Drainage. The General Assembly may pass, and has- 
passed, laws permitting the owners or occupants of land 
to construct drains across the lands of others, provided 
the drains are for agricultural or sanitary purposes. 

In 1878, an amendment to the state constitution was 
adopted, authorizing the General Assembly to pass laws 
providing for the organization of drainage districts. Such 
laws have been passed. 

The corporate authorities of drainage districts have 
power to construct and maintain levees, drains, and 
ditches by special assessments upon the property bene¬ 
fited. What is a levee? 

Homestead and Exemption Laws. Liberal home¬ 
stead and exemption laws must be passed. 

A certain amount of real estate and personal property 
is exempt from seizure for the payment of ordinary debts. 
The word “homestead” relates to real estate. 

The New State House. The Constitution of 1870 
provided that not more than $3,500,000 could be ex¬ 
pended upon the new State House, unless a majority of 
the votes cast at a general election, at which the ques¬ 
tion was submitted, should be in favor of the additional 
expenditure. The additional expenditure asked for by 
the General Assembly was voted upon three times. It 
was carried in 1884. 

Executive Department 

Officers. The executive department of the state con¬ 
sists of a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of 
State, Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction, and Attorney-General. 

Term of Office. These officers, with the exception of 
the Treasurer, hold their offices four years. The Treas- 


34 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


urer’s term is two years, and he cannot hold the office 
two terms in succession. Can you give a reason for 
this? 

Residence. All of the executive officers, Excepting the 
Lieutenant-Governor, must reside at the state capitol 
during their term of office. 

Why is the Lieutenant-Governor excepted? 

Election. An election is held for Governor, Lieuten¬ 
ant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, 
and Attorney-General on the Tuesday next after the 
first Monday in November of every year in which there 
" is an election for President of the United States. There 
is an election for Treasurer and Superintendent of Public 
Instruction on the Tuesday next after the first Monday 
in November in the “off years in politics”—that is, half 
way between the Presidential elections. This arrange¬ 
ment takes the election of Superintendent of Public 
Instruction out of politics as much as possible without 
having a general election for him alone. A general elec¬ 
tion is one at which any state officer is elected. 

Returns of Election. The election returns for state 
officers are sealed and sent by the several county clerks 
to the Secretary of State, directed to “The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives.” 

Immediately after the organization of the House, and 
before any other business is transacted, the speaker opens 
the returns and announces the result to the two houses 
who meet together in the hall of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives for that purpose. 

The person having the highest number of votes for 
any office is declared elected. If two or more persons 
have an equal and the highest number of votes for any 
office, the General Assembly, by joint ballot, chooses one 
of them for the office. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


35 


Eligibility. No person is eligible to the office of 
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor who is not thirty 
years of age, and who has not been for five years next 
preceding his election a citizen of the United States*and 
of Illinois. 

All the state executive officers, except the Treasurer, 
are declared by the Constitution to be ineligible to any 
other office during the time for which they are elected. 

Vacancies. In case of vacancy by death, resignation 
or otherwise, of any executive officer, except Governor or 
Lieutenant-Governor, the Governor fills the vacancy by 
appointment, and the person appointed holds the office 
during the remainder of the term. 

Accounts. All officers of the executive department 
and of all public institutions of the state must keep 
accounts of all moneys received and paid out by them, 
and under oath must make a semi-annual report of these 
accounts to the Governor. 

Reports. At least ten days before each regular ses¬ 
sion of the General Assembly, the officers of the execu¬ 
tive department and of all state institutions must report 
to the Governor. The Governor transmits these reports, 
and those of the judges of the supreme court concerning 
defects in the Constitution or the laws, to the General 
Assembly. 

The Governor may require written information, under 
oath, from any of these officers concerning the affairs of 
his office. 

Oath. The executive, and all other civil officers 
swear (or affirm) that they will support the Constitution 
of the United States and of Illinois, and that they will 
faithfully discharge the duties of their respective offices 
to the best of their ability. No other oath can be 
required of any civil officer. 


36 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


GOVERNOR 

Executive Power. The Governor has supreme exec- 
utnfe power, and must see that the laws are executed. 

Message. At the beginning of each session of the 
General Assembly, the Governor sends it a message giv¬ 
ing the condition of the state, recommending such meas¬ 
ures as he deems best, containing a statement of the 
money received and paid out by him according to law, 
and presenting estimates of the amount of money that 
should be raised by taxation for all state purposes. His 
message is accompanied by the reports of the other 
executive officers. 

General Assembly. Whenever the public good may 
require it, the Governor may call the General Assembly 
together in an extra session. The proclamation calling 
the extra session must state the purpose for which it is 
called, and no business can be transacted except that 
given in the proclamation. 

If the two houses fail to agree upon the time for 
adjournment, and the house which first moves the ad¬ 
journment certifies such failure to the Governor, he may 
adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, but 
not beyond the first day of the next regular session. 

Appointment of Officers. The Governor, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints certain 
state officers. 

In case of a vacancy in any state office that is not 
elective, the Governor makes a temporary appointment 
until the next meeting of the Senate. 

A person who has been rejected by the Senate cannot 
be renominated by the Governor for the same office at 
the same session, unless at the request of the Senate; 
nor can he be appointed to the same office during a recess 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


37 


of the Senate. Were it not for these restrictions, the 
Governor might keep on nominating the same man for 
the same office till the adjournment of the Senate and 
then appoint him to fill the office temporarily until the 
next meeting of the Senate. 

Removal of Officers. Any officer appointed by the 
Governor may be removed by him for incompetency, 
neglect of duty, or illegal conduct. He may then 
appoint some one else to fill the vacancy. 

Reprieves, Commutations, and Pardons. The Gov¬ 
ernor has power to grant reprieves, commutations, and 
pardons to persons convicted of crimes. 

A reprieve is a temporary suspension of the execution 
of a penalty. 

A commutation is a change from one punishment to 
another less severe, as from death to imprisonment for 

life. 

A pardon is a complete removal of penalty and res¬ 
toration to citizenship. 

Commander in Chief of the Militia. The Governor is 
commander in chief of the militia of the state when they 
are not in the service of the United States. The Governor 
has at all times the appointment of certain officers of the 
militia. 

Veto. The Governor’s veto has been discussed fully 
on page 26. 

Salary. The Governor receives a salary of $12,000 a 
year and has the use of the executive mansion. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 

Successor to Governor. In case of the death, resigna¬ 
tion, or disability of the Governor, the Lieutenant-Gov¬ 
ernor becomes Governor. In case of his disability also 


38 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the powers and duties of Governor devolve upon the 
president pro tempore of the Senate, and in case of the 
disability of that officer they devolve upon the speaker 
of the House for the remainder of the term. 

President of the Senate. The Lieutenant-Governor 
is president of the Senate, but has no vote except in 
case of a tie. 

Salary. The Lieutenant-Governor’s salary is $5,000 
a year. 

SECRETARY OF STATE 

Keeper of Public Acts. The Secretary of State must 
keep in his office, properly filed and indexed, all public 
acts, laws, and resolutions of the General Assembly. 

When the legislature is not in session, he keeps all 
books and papers belonging to each house. 

Calls House to Order. The Secretary of State calls 
the House of Representatives to order, and presides until 
a temporary speaker is elected. 

Register. He must keep a register of all the official 
acts of the Governor, and of all commissions issued by 
him. What is a commission? Every justice of the peace 
or notary public has a commission from the Governor. 

Seal of State. The Secretary of State is the keeper 
of the “Great Seal of the State of Illinois,” and must 
affix this seal to all commissions and documents counter¬ 
signed by himself. 

What is a seal? Every notary public in Illinois has 
one, and a little effort will enable you to see one of these. 

Custodian of Property. He is custodian of all public 
buildings and grounds in the City of Springfield. 

Laws and Journals. He must supervise the distri¬ 
bution of the laws and journals of the General Assembly. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


39 


Report. He must report the affairs of his office 
biennially to the Governor. 

Certificate. He must certify to the correctness of 
the law and journals when they are published. 

Charters. The Secretary of State issues charters to 
corporations. 

There are corporations for the purpose of govern¬ 
ment, as cities and villages; for business purposes, as 
railroad, insurance, and manufacturing companies; for 
improvement of members, but not for money-making, 
as in case of societies and associations; for religious 
purposes, as church organizations of various kinds. 

Weights and Measures. The Secretary of State is 
the keeper of the public standards of weights and 
measures. 

Registry Blanks. He must furnish registration 
blanks to judges of election prior to every general 
election. 

He . has other duties of minor importance. 

Bond. The Secretary of State must give a bond 
for $100,000. 

Salary. His salary is $7,500 a year. 

AUDITOR 

Accounts. The Auditor is the book-keeper of the 
state. He keeps accounts with all public officers, cor¬ 
porations, and individuals doing business with the 
state. 

Whenever a claim or bill is presented for payment of 
money out of the state treasury, he examines, or audits, 
it to see if it is legal. 

Warrants. If the Auditor finds a claim to be legal 
and just, he signs an order on the Treasurer for the 


I 


40 ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 

proper amount. Such orders, are called “auditor’s war¬ 
rants.” He keeps a record of all warrants signed by him. 

The Auditor is the “watch-dog of the treasury.” 

Rate of Taxation. The Auditor assists the Governor 
in computing the rate of taxation necessary to raise 
sufficient revenue for state purposes. 

The legislature fixes the amount to be raised by 
taxation. 

Report. The Auditor reports biennially to the 
Governor. 

Bond. He gives a bond for $50,000. 

Salary. His salary is $7,500 a year. 

TREASURER 

Public Funds. The Treasurer must receive and 
safely keep all moneys which are authorized by law to be 
paid to him. 

The Treasurer is not allowed to receive and receipt 
for any money whatever unless he has an order from the 
Auditor directing him to receive it. Neither can he pay 
out money except upon the Auditor’s warrant. When 
he pays an order, he must cancel it with some instrument 
that will cut or perforate the paper. 

Give a good reason for each of these provisions. 

Monthly Settlements. The Treasurer must settle 
with the Auditor at the close of each month, stating the 
amounts received and paid out, and on what accounts. 
He must also return all warrants canceled by him, and 
obtain the Auditor’s receipt for them. 

Report. The Treasurer makes a biennial report to 
the Governor. 

Bond. The Treasurer’s bond is for $500,000. 

Salary. His salary is $10,000 a year. 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


41 


SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

The duties of this officer are given in CHAPTER 
VIII on the public school system. 


ATTORNEY-GENERAL 

State and State Officers. The Attorney-General rep¬ 
resents the people of the state in all suits in which they 
are interested before the supreme court. He also acts 
as attorney for state officers, when suits are brought 
against them as officers. 

Advisory Duties. The Attorney-General consults 
with and advises state’s attorneys concerning their 
duties. 

He advises the Governor and other state officers, and, 
when requested, gives written opinions upon all legal and 
constitutional questions relating to the duties of these 
officers. He also gives such written opinions at the 
request of either house of the General Assembly or of 
any legislative committee. 

Funds. The Attorney-General sees that the funds 
appropriated to the several state institutions are properly 
used. 

Records. He keeps a records of his official acts, and 
of the opinions given by him while in office, and gives 
these records to his successor in office. 

Bond. A bond for $10,000 must be given by the 
Attorney-General. 

Salary. His salary is $10,000 a year. 

Name the executive officers of the state. When was 
each elected? 


42 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Judicial Department 

SUPREME COURT 

Grand Division. Prior to 1897 the state was divided 
into three grand divisions and one term of court was 
held each year in each division. The entire state now 
constitutes one grand division. 

Terms. There are now five terms of court each year. 
These are all held at Springfield, the sessions at Ottawa 
and Mount Vernon having been discontinued. 

Judges. There are seven judges of the supreme 
court; they.choose one of their number for chief-justice. 

Four judges must agree to every decision. 

Term. The judges of the supreme court are elected 
for nine years. 

Election Districts. The state is divided into seven 
districts for the purpose of electing the judges of the 
supreme court. Each district elects one judge. 

Clerk. A clerk of the supreme court is elected for 
the entire state for six years. His salary is $7,500 a year. 

Original Jurisdiction. The supreme court has orig¬ 
inal jurisdiction in cases relating to the revenues of the 
state, and in mandamus and habeas corpus cases. By 
this is meant that suits relating to these matters may be 
begun in the supreme court. 

A case of mandamus is brought for the purpose of 
compelling a public officer or corporation to perform 
certain duties. 

A case of habeas corpus has for its object the pre¬ 
vention of false or unjust imprisonment. By it the 
prisoner is brought into court, and the cause of his 
imprisonment is investigated. 



/ 


ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT BUILDING, SPRINGFIELD 


























































THE ASSEMBLY CHAMBER. SPRINGFIELD 















STATE GOVERNMENT 


43 


Appellate Jurisdiction. The supreme court has 
appellate jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and in all 
civil cases in which the amount in dispute is one thousand 
dollars or more. By appellate jurisdiction is meant that 
appeals may be taken to the supreme court in such cases 
after they have been tried in a lower court. 

A criminal case is a suit brought for the purpose of 
punishing some person for violating a public law. 

A civil case is a suit brought by a person, company, 
or corporation, called the plaintiff, against another per¬ 
son, company, or corporation, called the defendant to 
compel the defendant to pay the plaintiff a sum of money 
or give up to him certain property. Suits for money may 
be for debts due the plaintiff, or for damages on account 
of injury done him by the defendant. 

Decisions Final. The decisions of the supreme court 
are final except in cases involving a state law which con¬ 
flicts with a United States law. Such cases may be 
carried to the United States Supreme Court. 

Salaries of Supreme Judges. The judges of the 
supreme court elected after 1924 receive $15,000 a year. 

The clerks receive fees which are prescribed by law. 

APPELLATE COURTS 

Districts. The state is divided into four appellate 
court districts. Each appellate court appoints a clerk 
for a term of six years. 

Clerks for Judges. Each appellate judge is allowed 
a clerk who must be a licensed attorney and whose salary 
is $2,000 per annum. 

Judges.. The appellate judges are elected circuit 
judges, and are appointed appellate judges by the 
supreme court. 


44 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Sheriff. The sheriff of the county in which the 
appellate court is held attends the sessions of the court 
or appoints a deputy to do so. 

Jurisdiction. The appellate courts have appellate 
jurisdiction only. Their jurisdiction extends to all cases 
of appeal from circuit courts, city courts, or the superior 
court of Cook County, except in criminal cases and those 
involving a franchise, a freehold, or the validity of a 
law. These cases must be appealed directly to the 
supreme court. 

A franchise is a special privilege given by the state 
to an individual or corporation. 

The term freehold applies to real estate titles. 

Decision. The decision of the appellate court is final 
in all cases in which the amount in dispute is less than 
one thousand dollars. When the amount is one thou¬ 
sand dollars or more, the case may be taken to the 
supreme court. 

Salaries. Appellate judges receive the same salaries 
as circuit judges—$i5,000 a year in Cook County, and 
$6,500 elsewhere. The clerks receive fees. 


COURT OF CLAIMS 

Judges. The Governor, with the consent of the 
Senate, appoints three persons to serve four years as 
a court of claims to adjust claims of various kinds against 
the state. Each member of the court receives a salary 
of $1,500 a year. 


CIRCUIT COURTS 

Circuits. With the exception of Cook County, all of 
the counties of the state are arranged by the legislature 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


45 


into seventeen divisions called circuits. Cook County 
alone constitutes a circuit. 

Judges. Three judges are elected in each circuit 
every six years. Usually two of these hold circuit 
courts, and the third acts as one of the judges of the 
appellate courts. Cook County now elects twenty 
circuit judges. 

The circuit court is so called because its judges go 
from county to county for the purpose of holding court. 

Circuit Clerk. Each county elects a circuit clerk for 
a term of four years. He attends the sessions of the 
circuit court in his county, and keeps a record of the 
proceedings of the court. 

He keeps account of the costs of all suits in the circuit 
court in his county. These costs are made up of the 
fees of the sheriff, clerk, witnesses, jury, and others, and 
are usually paid by the person against whom the suit is 
decided. 

The circuit clerk also issues the summonses, subpoe¬ 
nas, executions, and other processes of the court. In 
counties of less than 60,000 inhabitants, he also acts as 
recorder of deeds for his county. 

Master in Chancery. In each county there is a 
master in chancery who is appointed by the judges of 
the circuit for two years. To him are referred many 
matters for investigation. He reports the results of his 
investigation to the court. Chief among his other duties 
is the sale of real estate in cases of foreclosure of 
mortgages. 

Jurisdiction. The circuit courts have original juris¬ 
diction in all criminal cases and in civil cases between 
citizens of the state. They have appellate jurisdiction 
in all cases tried before the county and probate courts 
and justices of the peace. 


46 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Courts of Cook County. Besides the circuit court, 
there are in Cook County two courts not held in other 
counties. The Superior Court of Cook County was for¬ 
merly known as the Superior Court of Chicago; the 
Criminal Court of Cook County was formerly known as 
the Recorder’s Court of the City of Chicago. 

Salary. The circuit judges receive $6,500 a year, 
except those in Cook County; they receive $15,000 a year. 

Grand Jury. The grand jury of every county assists 
the circuit court in bringing offenders to trial. 

A grand jury consists of twenty-three men who are 
selected by the county board. This jury meets at the 
place of holding the circuit court, and investigates all 
criminal charges brought to its notice against persons 
for crimes committed within the county. It hears evi¬ 
dence against accused persons, but nothing in their 
defense. If it has just cause to believe a person guilty 
of a crime, it furnishes the court with a paper in which 
the person is named, and his crime described, and advises 
that he be brought to trial. 

Such a paper is called an “indictment,” and the person 
is said to be “indicted” by the grand jury. In every case 
of indictment, sixteen grand jurors must be present, and 
twelve must agree to the indictment. An indictment is 
often called “a true bill.” This comes from the fact that 
the paper is prepared by the State’s Attorney and is 
indorsed by the jury “A true bill,” if the accused is found 
guilty. A copy of the indictment giving a list of witnesses 
against him is furnished the accused. 

The meetings of the grand jury are not open to the 
public. 

Petit Jury. Almost all cases in the circuit court are 
tried by a petit jury consisting of twelve men. This jury 
sits in open court and hears the evidence against and in 


STATE GOVERNMENT 


47 


behalf of the defendant, together with the arguments 
of the lawyers on both sides. The judge then instructs 
the jury as to the law concerning the case, and the 
manner in which it should weigh the evidence for and 
against the defendant. The jury then retires to the jury 
room, being all the while in charge of an officer, and 
agrees upon a verdict, if possible. A verdict cannot be 
rendered unless all the jurors agree to it. This applies 
as well to civil as to criminal cases. 

In trials before justices of the peace, juries are not 
instructed by the court. 

When a case is appealed to a higher court, a 
complete transcript in writing of the record of the pro¬ 
ceedings of the court below is filed by the party who 
appeals. This record is examined and reviewed by the 
upper court, and, if no errors appear, the judgment or 
decree of the court below is affirmed. If any substantial 
error appears, the judgment or decree is reversed and, 
usually, the case is remanded to the lower court for a 
new trial. 

Jurors are drawn by lot from a list of legal voters 
prepared by jury commissioners in Cook County, and by 
the county board in all other counties. Jurors serve two 
weeks, and receive $3 a day and 5 cents mileage each way 
for one round trip. 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. Who is the chief executive officer of the state? 2 . What 
is the highest judicial office in the state? 3 . Classify each of 
the following acts as legislative, executive, or judicial: 

(a) The Governor signs a bill; (b) he signs a commission 
in the militia; (c) he signs a pardon for a criminal; (d) he 
send* a message to the legislature recommending the passage of 
a hV; (e) he vetoes a bill; (f) the Lieutenant-Governor pre- 


48 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 

sides over the Senate during legislation; (g) he presides during 
an impeachment trial; (h) he acts as Governor during that 
official’s absence from the state; (i) the Senate passes a resolu¬ 
tion; (j) it refuses to pass a bill; (k) it confirms an officer 
appointed by the Governor; (1) it sits in impeachment trial; 
(m) the supreme court upholds a law; (n) it declares uncon¬ 
stitutional an amendatory act; it issues a writ of man¬ 
damus; (o) the Attorney-General advises the State Superin¬ 
tendent of Schools upon points in the school law; (p) he 
prosecutes for the violation of a law. 

4 . Explain: (a) Committee of the whole; (b) yeas and 
nays; (c) enacting clause; (d) veto; (e) pocket veto; (f) re¬ 
prieve; (g) commutation; (h) pardon; (i) seal of state; 
(j) original jurisdiction; (k) appellate jurisdiction; ( 1 ) indict¬ 
ment; (m) true bill; (n) petit jury; (o) grand jury. 

5 . Make a table similar to this and complete by supplying 
the needed information. Preserve for future reference. 


OFFICE 

LENGTH 

OF TERM 

SALARY 

DUTIES 

PRESENT 

INCUMBENT 

Governor 





Lieut.-Governor 





Secretary of State 





Auditor 





Treasurer 





Superintendent of 
Public Instruct’n 





Attorney-General 





Representative 
from your dist. 





Senator from your 
district 





Circuit judges 
from your dist. 




































CHAPTER III 


THE DIVISIONS OF THE STATE 

Description of the Divisions 

Counties. Counties are divisions of the state made 
in order to bring matters of government nearer to the 
people. They are formed by the legislature of the state, 
usually upon petition of the people directly concerned. 
They are named in the acts which create them. 

The county does not bear exactly the same relation to 
the state that the latter does to the nation. The state 
is sovereign in many particulars, while the county has 
no sovereign power whatever. It has no constitution, 
and all its powers are given to it by the state legislature. 

There are one hundred and two counties in Illinois. 

Townships. In this state we have two correct uses 
of the word township. These uses should be carefully 
learned, so as to distinguish clearly from each other and 
from the uses of the word town. 

Congressional Township. The congressional town¬ 
ship is the unit of the United States survey system and 
is simply a tract of land six miles square. It is a division 
rather of the United States than of the state, and is 
common to all slates and territories surveyed by this 
system. It is not a political division of the county, state, 
or United States, and consequently has no officers. It 
has a single purpose—to assist in the description of real 
estate. It is always designated by number. 

49 


50 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


School Township. The school township is a political 
division of the county with reference to school affairs 
only, and in boundary is coincident with the congres 
sional township of like number and description. Section 
twenty-three of the school law provides that every con¬ 
gressional township shall be considered a township for 
school purposes. 

The school township officers are three trustees of 
schools and a township treasurer. The latter is often 
called the school treasurer. 

The school township has the single purpose of assist¬ 
ing in certain school affairs. It is always designated by 
number—never by name, being numbered exactly like 
the congressional township with which it coincides. 
There need be no confusion on this account, as the two 
townships are never spoken of in the same connection. 

Towns. The word town has so many different 
meanings that it is somewhat difficult to apply it cor¬ 
rectly at all times. Its use as a general term for villages 
and cities is correct in ordinary conversation, as where 
we speak of “going to town,” or “going out of town.” But 
in the study of civil government we must discard this 
use of the word, and speak only of its two uses in 
connection with civil affairs. 

Organized Towns. The organized town is a political 
division of the county with reference to civil affairs only. 
It has no connection whatever with the description of 
real estate, with the school system, or with incorporated 
government like that of a city or village. It has a single 
purpose—to assist in local government in civil affairs. 
In almost all counties in the state, especially those in 
the central and northern part, every one lives in some 
town in this sense of the word. 

If all organized towns had been formed as was in- 


THE DIVISIONS OF THE STATE 


51 


tended by the law, they would each be six miles square, 
except where there are fractional congressional 
townships. 

The organized town is always designated by name— 
never by number. Whenever the word town is used in 
this book, the organized town is mpant, except when the 
expression incorporated town is used. 

Township Organization. The Constitution of 1848 

provided that “the General Assembly shall provide, by a 

general law, for a township organization.” Accordingly 

a law was enacted that all counties which should elect 
* ✓ 

to do so in a prescribed manner might adopt what is 
known as “township organization.” 

Counties so electing are divided by three commis¬ 
sioners, appointed by the county board, into towns which 
shall coincide with the townships of the county. When 
a township has too few inhabitants for a separate 
organization it may be added to some adjoining town 
or divided between two or more towns for the time 
being. Fractional townships may be added to some 
adjoining town. A glance at a complete map of the 
state will show that few counties, if any, have all of 
their towns coincident with the township. Has your 
county? 

A majority of the towns, however, coincide with the 
townships. In such cases, the township election (for 
school trustees) and the town election (annual town 
meeting) are held on the same day. This fact gives rise 
to the common error of calling the officers of the town 
“township officers.” 

Counties are divided into towns in order to bring 
matters of local government still nearer the people. This 
and the government of counties not under township 
organization will be fully explained later. 


52 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


The term “township organization” used in the law is 
evidently a misnomer; it should be “town organization,” 
since so many towns are not organized townships, not 
being coincident with the latter. 

Incorporated Towns. It is to be regretted that prior 
to the enactment of the law authorizing the organization 
of towns for local government, a law was enacted which 
provides for the incorporation of towns, divided into 
blocks and lots, having streets and alleys, and govern¬ 
ments similar to that of villages. In fact, the word town 
is used in the same sense as the word village. A few 
such towns have been incorporated, but almost all such 
incorporations are termed villages. 

Unless there is such a town near you, it will be better 
for you to dismiss this use of the word from your mind, 
and to think only of the organized town. 

School Districts. School districts are divisions of the 
school township, and have reference to school affairs 
only. 

County Organization. Counties not under township 
organization are said to be under county organization. 
There are nineteen such counties in Illinois. In some of 
these the proposition to organize has been voted on and 
defeated several times. 

The chief argument in favor of township organization 
is that it brings the government nearer the people. One 
feature of this is that it makes several town offices to be 
filled by residents of the town. Many men, doubtless, 
work and vote for township organization hoping to 
obtain an office. 

The leading argument against township organization 
is that it increases the cost of government very mate¬ 
rially. Taxes are necessarily higher in counties under 
township organization. Of course it may be claimed that 


THE DIVISIONS OF THE STATE 


S3 

the government is enough better to overcome the 
disadvantage of increase in cost. 

Cities and Villages. The government of cities and 
villages is described in another chapter. They are com¬ 
monly spoken of as towns but in the study of the civil 
government of Illinois you must discriminate sharply 
between cities and villages and towns, except in the few 
cases where there are incorporated towns. 

Cities and villages have certain corporate privileges 
which towns have not. They are organized in a wholly 
different manner, and for a different purpose. 

In many cases the name of a town is the same as that 
of a city or village within its limits. This fact often 
gives rise to confusion in common speech. 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. Why do we have counties? 2 . How many are ttiere in 
Illinois? 3. Distinguish between an organized town and an 
incorporated town. 4. (a) In what congressional township do 
you live? (b) In what school township? (c) town? (d) city 
or village? 5. (a) Bound the county, (b) The congressional 
township? 6. Consult the complete table of congressional, sem- 
atorial, and judicial districts and the judicial circuits on Page 
208. 


CHAPTER IV 
COUNTY GOVERNMENT 
Legislative Department 

Board of Supervisors. The laws made by the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly apply to all counties alike, and only such 
laws are made by it as are general in their nature. Every 
county has measures for its own government which 
apply only to itself. These measures must not conflict 
with any general law of the state. 

In counties under township organization, the legisla¬ 
tive acts are performed by the board of supervisors. The 
members of this board are elected by the several towns 
in the county, and perform duties as town officers aside 
from their duties as members of the “county board,” as 
the board of supervisors is called. In counties not under 
township organization the board of county commission¬ 
ers is also called the county board. 

Meetings. The board of supervisors holds its annual 
meeting on the second Tuesday of September. It also 
holds a regular meeting on the second Monday in June 
in each year. Special meetings may be held at the 
request of at least one-third of the members of the board. 

County Seat. The county board meets at the county 
seat, and, if possible, in the court house. The county 
seat is the city or village in which the business of the 
county is transacted. 

Organization. The county board organizes at the 
first meeting of the year by choosing one of its number 

54 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


55 


chairman. The chairman presides over all the meetings, 
and appoints the various committees through which the 
business of the board is largely done. The county clerk 
is clerk of the board of supervisors. 

Open Doors. The board must hold its meetings with 
open doors. Why ? 

Proceedings Published. A brief account of the 
proceedings of every meeting must be published in a 
county paper if it can be done without unreasonable 
expense. 

New Towns. The board may change the boundaries 
of towns, create new towns, and give names to them. 
No two towns in the state shall have the same name. 
The State Auditor keeps an alphabetical list of all the 
towns, and must be consulted in case a new name is to 
be given. 

Have you a clear notion of what is meant by the 
word town, as here used? 

Care of Property. The county board has the care of 
all property belonging to the county. The board also 
has the management of nearly all the funds belonging 
to the county. 

Auditing Bills. The county board must settle all 
just claims against the county, and audit all accounts 
concerning the receipts and expenditures of the county. 

Levy of County Tax. The county board may levy 
a tax not to exceed seventy-five cents on one hundred 
dollars’ valuation for county purposes. 

If the county was in debt at the time of the adoption 
of the present Constitution, a tax not to exceed one 
dollar on one hundred dollars’ valuation may be levied to 
pay the principal and interest for such indebtedness. 
Any additional levy must be submitted to a vote of the 
people. 


56 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


County Buildings. The county board must erect a 
courthouse, jail, and other necessary public buildings. 
Furnished offices must be provided for the county 
officers. Some of these offices are to be fireproof, or 
furnished with fireproof safes, whenever the finances of 
the county will permit. 

Books and Stationery. The board must furnish suit¬ 
able books and stationery for the use of the county board 
and the several county officers. 

Annual Financial Statement. The county board 
must prepare and publish an itemized statement of the 
receipts and expenditures of the preceding year together 
with the actual condition of affairs at the end of the year. 

Prosecute and Defend Suits. Suitable measures for 
the prosecution and defense of suits brought by or 
against the county must be taken by the county board. 

Pay of County Officers. The pay of the officers, 
except the county superintendent of schools, is fixed by 
the county board, and cannot be changed during the term 
for which the officers are elected. Why not? 

Treasurer’s Accounts. It is the duty of the county 
board to examine the books of the county treasurer, and 
to count the money at least as often as once every six 
months. 

Grand and Petit Jurors. Grand juries are selected by 
the county boards in their respective counties. 

As nearly as can be, a proportionate number of grand 
jurors are to be chosen from each town in the county. 

Each year the board prepares lists of not less than 
one-tenth of the legal voters of each town, which lists 
are kept in the office of the county clerk. The county 
clerk writes each man’s name and address upon a sepa¬ 
rate ticket, and puts all the tickets in a box kept for the 
purpose. At least twenty days before a trial court 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


57 


convenes, the clerk of the court, in the presence of the 
county clerk, draws the names of a sufficient number of 
petit jurors from the box. 

Other Powers and Duties. The county board may 
also allow, regulate, and condemn toll roads and bridges; 
grant liquor licenses; establish county normal schools; 
offer rewards for criminals; and offer rewards for raising 
timber. 

Board of County Commissioners. In counties not 
under township organization, the county board consists 
of the three commissioners elected by the whole county 
for a term of three years, one commissioner being elected 
each year. These counties are divided by the county 
board into precincts for election purposes, and into 
districts for road purposes. 

The powers and duties of the board of commissioners 
are almost the same as those of the board of supervisors. 

Commissioners of Cook County. The County o$ 
Cook is governed by a board of county commissioners, 
fifteen in number. Ten of these commissioners arf 
elected from Chicago and five from that part of Cook 
County which is outside Chicago. All the commis¬ 
sioners serve four years. 

Executive Department 

Officers. The executive department consists of tha 
county clerk, treasurer, recorder, county surveyor, super, 
intendent of schools, and the committees of the county 
board when carrying out the instructions of the whole 
board. All of the officers named execute the state laws 
which apply to their duties, and also the measures passed 
by the county board. All of the executive officers of the 
county are elected for four years. 


58 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


COUNTY CLERK 

Records. The county clerk has charge of certain 
books and papers pertaining to the county’s business. 

County Board. He is clerk of the county board of 
his county, keeps a record of its proceedings, and keeps 
on file all accounts passed upon by the board. 

Orders. He must keep a complete record of all orders 
drawn upon the county treasurer. 

Bonds. The official bonds of certain county and 
town officers are filed in the office of the county clerk. 
He must keep an alphabetical list of these bonds, giving 
names of sureties and other essential facts. 

Indexes. He must keep alphabetical indexes of all 
records and papers filed in his office. 

Copy. The county clerk must furnish to any person 
who will pay the proper fee, a copy of any record, paper, 
or account in his office. 

County Court. The county clerk must attend the 
sessions of the county court, and keep a complete record 
of all its proceedings. He is an officer of the judicial 
department of the county when thus acting as clerk of 
the county court. 

Marriage Licenses. He issues marriage licenses. 

Canvassing Vote. After every general election, the 
county clerk and two justices of the peace of his county 
canvass the votes of the county and make abstracts 
showing the number of votes received by each candidate. 
These abstracts are filed in the county clerk’s office. 

Taxes. He computes the amount of tax to be paid 
by every person subject to taxation in the county and 
supplies collectors with books which show the amount. 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


59 


County Treasurer 

Collector of Taxes. In counties having less than 
100,000 inhabitants the office of township collector was 
abolished in 1917, and the county treasurer will here¬ 
after collect the taxes of the county. Since the town¬ 
ship collectors were allowed to retain two per cent of the 
taxes they had collected, while the county treasurer works 
on a salary and is allowed no commission for collecting, 
this law will result in a great saving for the tax payers. 

Public Funds. The county treasurer must receive, 
safely keep, and pay out according to law all public 
money that may properly come into his hands. He must 
keep a complete record of the business of his office. 

Supervisor of Assessments. In counties under town¬ 
ship organization of less than 125,000 inhabitants, the 
county treasurer is ex officio supervisor of assessments of 
taxes in his county. 

Report. The treasurer must report to the county 
board at each of its regular meetings all sums received 
and paid out by him since his last report. These reports 
are filed in the county clerk’s office. 

Settlements. Twice each year the county board must 
make a settlement with the treasurer. 

Reelection. An amendment to the state constitution 
was adopted in 1880, providing that no person having- 
once been elected to the office of sheriff or treasurer shall 
be eligible to the same office for four years after the 
expiration of the term of office for which he was elected. 

Recorder 

Deeds. The recorder must copy into books provided 
for the purpose all deeds, mortgages, and other papers 
pertaining to the title of lands, when the papers 


60 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


are presented to him for that purpose. The person 
presenting such a paper must pay a prescribed fee in 
order to have it copied, or recorded, as it is called. In 
case a paper so recorded is lost, the recorder’s books will 
show its contents. Chattel mortgages, or mortgages 
upon personal property, may also be recorded. 

Records Open to the Public. All records and in¬ 
dexes are now open to the public, and abstracts may be 
taken from them without charge. 

In counties of less than sixty thousand inhabitants 
the circuit clerk is ex officio (by virtue of his office) 
recorder of deeds. In counties of sixty thousand or more 
inhabitants there is a separate recorder. Fifteen 
counties in the state may have separate recorders under 
the census of 1920. 

COUNTY SURVEYOR 

. SgM 

Duties. The county surveyor makes surveys within 
his county when called upon to do so. He keeps a record 
of surveys thus made. The record is open to the 
inspection of all persons interested in the surveys. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 

The duties of county superintendents of schools 
are given in CHAPTER VIII on the public school 
system. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS 

Appointment. The county superintendent of high¬ 
ways is not elected by the people of the county, but is 
appointed by the county board from among persons 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


61 


found eligible for the position by the State Highway 
Commission upon competitive examination. 

Duties. He acts for his county in all matters relating 
to the supervision of the construction and maintenance 
of roads and bridges in which the county is financially 
interested, either alone or in conjunction with the state 
or with any town or road district of the county. 

This officer serves six years and receives a salary 
fixed by the county board. Only counties maintaining 
“state aid” roads have superintendents of highways. 


Judicial Department 

Officers. The officers of the judicial department of 
the county are county judge, probate judge, county clerk 
(when acting as clerk of the county court), sheriff, 
state’s attorney, and coroner. Although elected by the 
county, and termed a county officer, the circuit clerk is 
really an officer of the circuit court, and his duties were 
given in that connection. Review them. 

Term. These officers are all elected for four years. 

Salaries. Their salaries are fixed by the county 
board. 

COUNTY COURT 

Judge. The county judge is judge of the county 
court. 

Law Jurisdiction. The county courts have exclusive 
jurisdiction in suits authorizing the sale of real estate 
for the collection of taxes. 

They have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit 
courts in all cases like those in which justices of the 
peace have jurisdiction, and in which the amount in 


62 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


dispute is not more than one thousand dollars. They 
also have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts 
in criminal cases when the punishment is not imprison¬ 
ment in the penitentiary or death; and in all cases of 
appeal from justices of the peace and police magistrates. 
When two or more courts have concurrent jurisdiction 
in any matter, suits may be brought in any one of them. 
In suits for two hundred dollars or less, justices of the 
peace, county and circuit courts have concurrent 
jurisdiction. 

Probate Jurisdiction. In counties of less than 
seventy thousand inhabitants, the county court has 
original jurisdiction in all matters relating to the settle¬ 
ment of the estates of deceased persons; the appointment 
of guardians of minors, and conservators of the insane 
and feeble-minded, and the settlement of their accounts; 
and in all matters relating to apprentices. 

PROBATE COURT 

Judge. In counties having more than seventy thou¬ 
sand inhabitants a probate judge must be elected to 
attend to the probate business of the county. In this 
case the county court has only law jurisdiction, and a 
separate probate court is established. 

Clerk. A probate clerk is .also elected in such cases. 

Under the census of 1910 only ten counties have 
separate probate judges. They are Cook, Kane, La Salle, 
Madison, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, St. Clair, Ver¬ 
milion, and Will. 


SHERIFF 

\ 

Attendance at Courts. The sheriff must attend all 
the sessions of circuit and county courts and obey their 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


63 


lawful orders. He convenes and adjourns the court 
when directed to do so, and preserves order in the court. 

Service of Writs. The sheriff serves all warrants,, 
summonses' subpoenas, executions, and other papers that 
the court may issue. 

A warrant directs the sheriff to arrest a certain person 
accused of a crime. 

A summons directs the sheriff to summon a certain 
person to appear in court to answer a demand made by 
another person named in the summons. 

A subpoena commands a certain person to appear in 
court as a witness. 

An execution empowers the sheriff to carry a judg¬ 
ment into effect. A common form of execution is that 
which directs the sheriff to seize certain property and 
sell it to pay the obligations of a person against whom 
a suit has been decided. 

Conservator of the Peace. Every sheriff is conserv¬ 
ator of the peace in his county, and it is his duty to 
suppress riots, fighting, and all breaches of the peace, 
and to prevent crime. He may arrest, without a warrant,, 
persons whom he sees breaking the law, and take them 
before a magistrate. 

Custodian of Court House. The sheriff has charge 
of the court house and jail in his county. 

Care of Prisoners. He sees that all prisoners are 
properly guarded and supplied with suitable food. 

When prisoners are sentenced to the penitentiary or 
reform school, the sheriff removes them thither. He 
also hangs criminals condemned to death. 

Deputies. The sheriff may appoint deputies to assist 
him in his work. These deputies have all the powers of 
the sheriff, and their official acts are considered as acts 
of the sheriff, he being responsible in all cases for them. 


64 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Ineligible to Re-election. A person having once been 
elected to the office of sheriff is not eligible to re-election 
for four years after the expiration of the term for which 
he was elected. 


state’s attorney 

Prosecution of Criminals. The State’s Attorney sees 
that offenders against the laws are indicted, arrested, and 
brought into court for trial. He then endeavors to prove 
their guilt and have them punished. He is often called 
the “prosecuting attorney.” 

Civil Suits. The State’s Attorney carries on, in behalf 
of the county, all lawsuits brought for or against it, and 
in cases brought against county officers as such, he 
defends the officers. 

Advisory duties. He is the legal adviser of all county 
officers and justices of the peace. 


CORONER 

Inquests. Whenever the coroner is informed that 
some person within the county has met with death from 
violence, accident, or any undue means, it is his duty to 
go to the place, and, with the aid of a jury, inquire into 
the cause of the death. Such an examination is called 
an inquest. A record of the inquest is kept in a book 
provided for the purpose. The coroner reports the result 
of the examination to the county clerk. 

Arrest of Slayer. If any person is found to be impli¬ 
cated in the murder of the deceased, it is the duty of the 
coroner to arrest him and hold him for further examina¬ 
tion and trial. 


COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


65 


Questions and Topics for Study 

i. Name all of the judicial officers of your county. 2 . What 
constitutes the legislative department of your county govern¬ 
ment ? 3 . Is your county under township organization or county 
organization? 4 . If under county organization, name the county 
commissioners. 5 . If under township organization, name the 
supervisor from your town. 6 . Why do you want an honest 
and capable man in that office? 7 . Make a table similar to the 
following, and complete it by furnishing the necessary informa¬ 
tion. Preserve for future reference. These officers are all 
elected by the people. 


OFFICE 

length 

OF TERM 

SAlA-KT 

DUTIES 

PRESENT 

INCUMBENT 

County Clerk 





Treasurer 





Circuit Clerk 





State’s Attorney 





Recorder 





Surveyor 





Supt. of Schools 





Sheriff 





County Judge 





Probate Judge 





Probate Clerk 





Coroner 































CHAPTER V 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 

Legislative Department 

Annual Town Meeting. On the first Tuesday of 
April every town in the state holds its annual town 
meeting for the election of officers and the transaction 
of the business of the town. Probably not five per cent 
of the voters of the state fiow attend these meetings. 
The town meeting has ceased to be an effective means of 
government. 

Moderator. At some time between the hours of 
eight and nine o’clock in the forenoon, the voters present 
are called together by the town clerk. One of their 
number is chosen moderator, and two judges appointed 
by the county board take their places as judges of the 
election. The moderator is a judge of the election, and 
also presides over the meeting during the transaction 
of miscellaneous business. The moderator must take 
an oath before entering upon the duties of his office. 

Clerk. The town clerk last elected is clerk of the 
annual town meeting, and must keep a full and faithful 
record of all its proceedings. 

Manner of Voting. The town clerk must supply a 
suitable ballot box. This box, made of tin or wood, is 
shown to be empty at the beginning of the election, and 
is then kept locked until the voting is done. 

In 1891 the legislature passed an election law mod- 
66 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


67 


eled after what is known as the “Australian System.” 
All ballots are printed at public expense. The names of 
the candidates of all parties are put upon one ballot, 
under proper headings. No “ticket peddlers” are 
allowed, and no “electioneering” can be done within one 
hundred feet of the polls. The voter enters the polling 
place and gives his name to one of the judges who calls 
it out in a loud tone of voice. If the person is found to 
be entitled to vote he is allowed to enter a space enclosed 
by a guard rail. A judge of election then gives him one 
ticket, and only one, which the voter takes into an 
enclosed place called a booth, where, all alone and out 
of sight of everybody, he marks the names of the candi¬ 
dates for whom he wishes to vote. If he cannot read, or 
is physically unable to mark his ballot, two election 
officers assist him, but are not allowed thereafter to tell 
how he voted. The voter, having marked his ballot, folds 
it so as to conceal the marks made by him thereon, and, 
leaving the booth, hands it to an election judge, who 
places it in the ballot box without numbering it, as was 
formerly done. The voter then passes out and is not 
again allowed to enter the space enclosed by the guard 
rail during that election, nor can he by any means carry 
a ballot away with him. 

When the polls are closed, the ballot box is opened 
by the judges and the votes are canvassed—that is, the 
names of the persons voted for each office are ascer¬ 
tained, and a record made of the number of votes each 
person receives. The result of the election is then 
publically announced. All Illinois elections, except for 
school officers, are conducted in this way. And in school 
districts of more than 1,000 inhabitants operating under 
the general school law the principal features of this 
system apply to the election of the board of education. 


68 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Miscellaneous Business. At two o’clock in the after¬ 
noon the polls are closed temporarily and the moderator 
calls the meeting to order for the transaction of mis¬ 
cellaneous business. 

All questions are decided by a majority of the legal 
voters present. The following are the most important 
matters that may be acted upon: 

Taxes. Money may be directed to be raised by tax¬ 
ation for constructing or repairing roads and bridges, 
for the prosecution or defense of lawsuits for or against 
the town, and for a few other purposes. 

Lawsuits. The meeting may instruct the proper 
officers concerning the lawsuits of the town. 

Canada Thistles. Rewards may be offered for the 
destruction of Canada thistles and other noxious weeds. 

Fences. The meeting may determine what shall be 
a lawful fence in the town. 

Trees. Action may be taken to induce the planting 
of trees along the highways. Premiums may be given 
for this purpose. 

Stock. The meeting may restrain and regulate the 
running at large of stock, establish and maintain a pound, 
appoint a poundmaster and prescribe his duties. 

Public Wells. Public wells and water places may 
be provided for, and their use regulated. 

Public Health. Measures may be taken to prevent 
unhealthfulness in the town. 

Road Tax. The voters may determine whether the 
road tax of the town shall be paid in money or in labor. 

Reports of Officers. Xhe voters receive and act upon 
the reports of officers for the past year. 

When the miscellaneous business is concluded, the 
moderator so announces, the polls are reopened, and the 
voting continues till time for closing the polls. 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


69 


Voters. All persons twenty-one or more years of age 
who are citizens of the United States and who have 
resided in the state one year, in the county ninety days, 
and in the election district thirty days, are entitled to 
vote at the annual town meeting, and at all other 
elections in this state. 

Woman Suffrage. By an act of the legislature passed 
in 1913 the women of Illinois were given the right to 
vote on an equality with men for nearly all elective offi¬ 
cers and the right to vote upon all questions or proposi¬ 
tions submitted to the vote of the electors of munici¬ 
palities or other political divisions of the state and at 
all town meetings. 

Therefore, very little was added to the voting power 
of the women of Illinois when equal suffrage with men 
was conferred upon the women of the United States by 
the ratification and formal proclamation of the nine¬ 
teenth amendment to the federal constitution August 
26th, 1920. This nineteenth amendment, popularly 

known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment, is sub¬ 
stantially in the same form in which it was originally 
drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stan¬ 
ton in 1875 . Its adoption by Congress in 1919 gave the 
states their first opportunity for ratification. Illinois was 
the first state to ratify. (See page 218 .) 

Primary Elections. The primary election laws of 
1910 provide that the primaries of all political parties 
shall be held at the same time and place and that the 
expenses thereof shall be paid out of public funds in the 
same manner as in case of regular elections. 

At primary elections each party is provided at public 
expense with separate ballots bearing a distinctive color 
and containing the names of none but candidates of that 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


70 

party. The names of candidates are put upon their party 
ballots by petition and in the order in which the petitions 
are filed as required by law. 

The primary election laws apply to the nomination 
of candidates for all elective offices, except presidential 
electors, trustees of the University of Illinois, township 
(so-called) and school officers. These laws also apply 
to the election of all precinct, senatorial and state central 
candidates for President of the United States. 

Who May Vote: Every voter at a primary election 
must vote his own party ticket. He is required to state 
the name of the party with which he affiliates, and one 
of the judges must announce the name of the voter, his 
residence, and his party affiliation in a distinct tone of 
voice loud enough to be heard by all persons in the 
polling place. This is done so the voter may be chal¬ 
lenged should he undertake to vote a ticket different 
from his own party. If no challenge is made the judge 
hands the voter the ticket of the party which he has 
announced. 

No person is entitled to vote , at a primary election 
who shall have signed a petition for the nomination of 
a candidate of another party or of an independent can¬ 
didate, nor if he shall have voted with another political 
party ^t a primary within two years. This precaution 
is rendered necessary to prevent the voters of one party 
from dictating the candidates of another party. 

Plurality Vote. The person receiving the highest 
number of votes at a primary election as a candidate of 
a party for a given office becomes the nominee of his 
party for such office by virtue of such vote. Tie votes 
are decided by lot as provided by law. Party conven¬ 
tions no longer have anything to do with nominations 
for offices to which the primary election laws apply. 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


71 


Special Town Meetings. The supervisors, town 
clerk, and a justice of the peace, or any two of these 
officers together with at least fifteen voters of the town, 
may cause a special town meeting to be held, by filing 
with the town clerk a statement, in writing, that such 
a meeting is necessary for the good of the town. The 
objects of the meeting must be given in the statement. 

Notice of the meeting is given in the same manner, 
and for the same length of time as for annual town 
meetings. The notice must state the objects of the 
meeting as given in the, written statement filed with the 
town clerk, and no business can be done except that for 
which the meeting was called. Why this provision? 


Executive Department 

Officers. The executive officers of the town are 
supervisor, clerk, assessor, and highway commissioner. 
There is no town treasurer. The supervisor and the high¬ 
way commissioner have charge of all town funds. There 
is a township treasurer, but he holds nothing except town¬ 
ship school funds. He is a school officer, and his duties 
will be discussed in CHAPTER VIII on the public school 
system. 

The town officers are all elected at the annual town 
meeting. 


SUPERVISORS 

Town Funds. The supervisor receives and pays out 
all funds for the expenses of the town, except for road 
and bridge purposes. 

Lawsuits of the Town. The supervisor prosecutes 
suits for the recovery of penalties and forfeitures due 


72 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the town. When the supervisor’s bond is forfeited, the 
town clerk prosecutes the suit. 

Account and Settlement. The supervisor must keep 
strict account of all sums of money received and paid 
out for the town, and on the Tuesday preceding the 
annual town meeting he must make a settlement with 
the board of town auditors. 

County Board. All supervisors, except of the towns 
in Cook County, must attend all meetings of the county 
board. 

Town Paupers. The supervisor is overseer of the 
paupers of the town. It is his duty to furnish them 
proper relief at the expense of the town or county. 

Statement. One week before the annual town meet¬ 
ing the supervisor must file with the town clerk a 
statement showing what sums of money are due the 
town, and also what sums the town owes. This state¬ 
ment must be copied by the town clerk into the town 
records and read at the town meeting. 

Term. Supervisors are elected for two years. 

Assistant Supervisors. In towns of four thousand 
inhabitants there must be elected one assistant super¬ 
visor, and for every twenty-five hundred inhabitants 
above four thousand another assistant supervisor is 
added. These have no authority in town affairs, except 
as members of the board of health. As members of the 
county board they have the same powers as the principal 
supervisor. 

TOWN CLERK 

Records. The town clerk has custody of all records, 
books, and papers of the town. 

Town Meetings. He records in a book provided for 
the purpose the proceedings of every town meeting. 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


73 


including all rules and regulations adopted at such 
meeting. He also records the acts of the board of the 
town auditors, and is clerk of highway commissioners. 

Certificates. If it be voted at any town meeting 
to raise money for any purpose, the clerk must de¬ 
liver to the supervisor before the annual meeting of 
the county board a certificate of his record of such 
vote. 

He must certify to the county clerk, on or before the 
second Tuesday in August, the amount of taxes to be 
raised for all town purposes. 

Elections. He provides at public expense the ballots 
to be used in the town elections. The form of this ballot 
is prescribed by law. 

Term. The town clerk is elected for two years. 

ASSESSOR 

Value of Property. It is the duty of the assessor to 
set a value upon the property of every property holder 
in 'his town, and to write such value in a book prepared 
for the purpose. This book, when the assessments are 
completed, is delivered to the county clerk. When all 
the assessor’s books in the county have been returned 
to him, the county clerk ascertains the total valuation 
put upon the taxable property within the county. From 
the tax levies made and filed in his office by the various 
officers who are authorized to levy taxes, he ascertains 
the total amount to be raised by taxation in his county. 
By finding the percentage that this amount is of the 
assessed value of all the property, he obtains what is 
called the rate per cent of taxation. The assessed value 
of a man’s property multiplied by this rate per cent 
will give the amount of his tax. 


74 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Supervisor of Assessments. In counties under town¬ 
ship organization of less than 125,000 inhabitants, the 
county treasurer is ex officio supervisor of assessments 
in his county. He has the same power as an assessor to 
assess and to make changes or alterations in the assess¬ 
ment of property. 

Board of Review. In counties in which the treasurer 
is supervisor of assessments there is a board of review 
consisting of the chairman of the county board and two 
citizens of the county appointed by the county judge. 
They review the assessments made by the supervisor of 
assessments. They have power to increase, reduce, or 
otherwise adjust the assessment of any individual or 
corporation. 

Cook County, having over 125,000 inhabitants, has a 
different system. It has a board of assessors, five in 
number, who serve six years. They employ a chief 
clerk and deputy assessors. Each member of the board 
of assessors receives $7,000 per annum. 

COLLECTOR 

Collector. By a law passed in 1917, the office of 
•collector was abolished and at the expiration of the term 
of office of the present collectors, who were elected in 
1916 for a term of two years, the duties of collector will 
be performed by the county treasurer. 

Highway Commissioner. By an act of the state 
legislature passed in 1917, there will hereafter be elected 
but one highway commissioner who will perform the 
duties which have heretofore been performed by three 
commissioners. 

Treasurer. The town supervisor is ex officio treas¬ 
urer of the town road and bridge fund. He receives all 
.money collected in the town for road and bridge pur- 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


75 


poses, and pays it out on the order of the highway 
commissioner. 

Roads and Bridges. The commissioner builds, re¬ 
pairs or vacates roads and bridges. 

Tools and Implements. The commissioner pur¬ 
chases for the use of the town such plows, scrapers, and 
other implements as may be necessary, and has charge 
of them at all times. 

Drainage. The commissioner has charge of road 
drainage and may contract with the owners of adjoining 
lands regarding tile drains. 

Other Duties. It is the duty of the highway com¬ 
missioner to put up guide boards at the forks and 
crossings of the most important public roads; also to 
keep noxious weeds from seeding. He may provide 
public wells with suitable fixtures at the most important 
crossings and at other suitable places. 

Road Tax. The commissioner must annually levy 
a tax sufficient for all road and bridge purposes for the 
ensuing year, but this tax cannot exceed the rate of 
thirty-six cents on one hundred dollars. 

Term. The highway commissioner is elected for 
two years. 

Salary. His salary is four dollars per day for time 
actually spent on the duties of his office. 

TOWN BOARDS 

Board of Appointment. Wherever there is a vacancy 
in any town office, from any cause, the justices of the 
peace of the town, together with the supervisor and the 
town clerk, may choose some one to fill such vacancy for 
the remainder of the term. 


76 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Board of Town Auditors. The supervisor, town 
clerk, and justices of the peace of every town constitute 
the board of town auditors. 

The board meets at the town clerk’s office twice each 
year—on the Tuesday before the annual meeting of the 
county board, and on the Tuesday before the annual 
election. At these times they examine the accounts of 
the supervisor and commissioners of highways of the 
town, and audit all claims against the town and the 
salaries of all town officers, except those of supervisors 
for county services. 

Commissioner of Canada Thistles. The board of 

auditors may appoint, when necessary, a commissioner 
of Canada thistles, whose dutty it is to destroy all 
Canada thistles growing in the town. He is appointed 
for three years. 

Board of Health. The supervisors, assessors, and 
town clerk of every town constitute a board of health. 
It is their duty to make and enforce, when necessary, 
such regulations as may tend to check the spreading of 
contagious diseases in the town. 

Judicial Department 

Officers. The judicial officers of the town are justices 
of the peace and constables. There are at least two 
justices and two constables in every town, and one 
justice and one constable additional for every one thou¬ 
sand inhabitants above two thousand, until there are 
five of each. 

Term. Justices of the peace and constables are 
elected for four years. 

In Chicago justices have been superseded by the 
judges of the municipal court. 


TOWN GOVERNMENT 


n 


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 

Civil Suits. Justices of the peace have jurisdiction 
in civil cases in which the amount in dispute does not 
exceed three hundred dollars. 

Criminal Affairs. Justices have original jurisdiction 
in all cases of misdemeanor when the punishment is by 
fine only, and the fine does not exceed two hundred 
dollars, and in all cases of assault, and assault and 
battery. 

A misdemeanor is an offense not punishable with 
death or imprisonment in the penitentiary. 

When an offense is punishable with death or impris¬ 
onment in the penitentiary, it is a felony. 

An assault is an attempt, coupled with present ability, 
of one person to do a violent injury to another. 

Assault and battery is the unlawful beating of 
another. 

Preliminary Examination. When a person is sus¬ 
pected or accused of felony, he may be arrested and 
brought before a justice for a preliminary examina¬ 
tion. 

If the justice, or the jury summoned by the justice, 
has just cause to believe him guilty, he is held to bail or 
sent to jail to await the action of the grand jury. 

When a prisoner is held to bail, he procures a suffi¬ 
cient number of responsible persons who will pledge 
themselves in writing to pay into the public treasury a 
certain sum of money, if the prisoner, being set free, does 
not appear in court on a certain day. 

After a person has had his preliminary hearing, he 
must be indicted by the grand jury before he can be 
brought to trial for a felony. 


78 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


CONSTABLES 

Duties. Constables must keep the public peace by 
arresting all persons who break the laws in their pres¬ 
ence, and must promptly serve the writs issued by the 
justices and other magistrates. All judges and justices 
of the peace are also conservators of the peace within 
their respective jurisdictions. 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. When is the annual town meeting held? 2 . What is 
meant by primary election? 3 . Name the elective township 
officers. 4 . What powers have justices of the peace? 5 . (a) 
What is a misdemeanor? (b) A felony? 6 . (a) Make a copy 
of the following table. (b) Complete it by supplying the 
needed information. (c) Preserve for future reference. 


OFFICE 

LENGTH 
OF TERM 

SALARY 

DUTIES 

PRESENT 

INCUMBENT 

Supervisor 





Asst. Supervisor 





Town Clerk 





Collector 





Assessor 





Highway Commis¬ 
sioner 





Justices of Peace 





Constable 





































CHAPTER VI 

CITY AND VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 

Legislative Department 

Cities Under Special Charters. Prior to 1870, cities 
could obtain from the legislature special charters for 
their government. These charters gave the cities to 
which they were granted certain privileges, named and 
defined the duties of the officers, and were the basis of 
the city governments. The constitution of 1870 pro¬ 
hibits the granting of such special charters, or the amend¬ 
ment of those already granted. 

Cities Under the General Law. Since the adoption 
of the new constitution, all cities have been incorporated 
under the general law. The governments of cities under 
special charters often differ from one another very ma¬ 
terially, while under the general law all cities are gov¬ 
erned in the same manner. The following discussion 
applies to cities organized under the general law: 

City Council. The city council consists of the mayor 
and aldermen. 

The mayor has no vote except in case of a tie. He 
is the presiding officer, rather than a member, of the 
council. 

The aldermen are from six to seventy in number, 
according to the population of the city, and are elected 
for two years. 

Wards. For convenience in electing aldermen, cities 
are divided by the city council into half as many wards 

79 


80 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


as there are aldermen, one alderman being elected from 
each ward annually on the third Tuesday in April. 
Wards must, as nearly as practicable, have an equal 
number of inhabitants, and be formed of compact and 
contiguous territory. 

Meetings. The council determines the time and place 
of its regular and special rfieetings. All meetings are 
open to the public. 

Powers of City Councils. The general law defines 
ninety-six different powers of city councils. The follow¬ 
ing are among the most important: 

Ordinances. The council passes ordinances for the 
government of the city, and fixes such penalties as it may 
deem necessary, but no fine can exceed two hundred 
dollars, and no imprisonment can exceed six months for 
one offense. 

Animals at Large. The council may prohibit the 
running at large of animals, including geese and dogs, 
and may impose a tax on dogs. 

Taxes. The council has power to levy and collect 
taxes for general and special purposes. 

Officers. The council acts upon all appointments of 
officers made by the mayor, and may confirm or reject 
them. 

Pay of Aldermen. The pay of aldermen is fixed by 
the city council, but must not exceed six dollars to 
each alderman for each meeting of the council. No other 
compensation is allowed. In Chicago each alderman 
receives $3,000 a year. 

Executive Department 

Mayor. The chief executive officer of a city is the 
mayor, who is elected for two (in Chicago, four) years. 


CITY AND VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 


81 


He presides over the meetings of the city council, and 
has a vote in case of a tie. He may also veto any ordi¬ 
nance passed by the council. Two-thirds of all the 
members elected to the city council may pass an ordi¬ 
nance over the mayor’s veto. In these respects the 
mayor’s duties pertain rather to the legislative depart¬ 
ment. 

Appointment of Officers. The mayor may, with the 
consent of the council, appoint certain officers. At such 
times the council exercises executive power. 

Message. The mayor must present to the city coun¬ 
cil, at least once a year, a message regarding the affairs 
of the city, and recommend for their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 

Compensation. The compensation of the mayor and 
of all the other city officers is fixed by the council, and 
cannot be changed during the term for which they are 
elected. 

City Clerk. A city clerk is elected in every city for 
two years. He is the custodian of the corporate seal, and 
of all papers belonging to the city. He must attend the 
meetings of the city council and keep a record of its 
proceedings. He must record in a book kept for that 
purpose all ordinances passed by the council. 

City Treasurer. This officer is elected for two years 
and has charge of the city funds. His duties are much 
the same as those of the county treasurer. 

Assessor and Collector. Instead of having the city 
taxes assessed and collected by the same officers and at 
the same time as other taxes, the city may elect a city 
assessor and a city collector. 

Other Officers. By a vote of two-thirds of all the 
aldermen elected, the city council may provide for the 
election by the legal voters, or for the appointment by 


82 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the mayor, of certain other officers. Among those who, 
when so appointed or elected, have executive authority, 
are a city comptroller and a superintendent of streets. 

City Comptroller. The city comptroller is the special 
guardian of the funds of the city. He has general super¬ 
vision over all city officers who handle the city funds, 
and makes an annual estimate of the amount of money 
necessary to run each department of the city government 
for the ensuing year. 

Superintendent of Streets. This officer has general 

supervision of the streets. 

Judicial Department 

City Courts. In cities having five thousand or more 
inhabitants, there may be city courts which shall at all 
times have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts, 
except for the crimes of treason and murder. A 
judge and a clerk of the city court are elected for four 
years. • 

Police Magistrates. Police magistrates, having the 
same jurisdiction as justices of the peace, may be elected 
in cities and villages for four years. 

Justices of the peace have jurisdiction in all matters 
pertaining to city and village ordinances. 

Corporation Counsel. There may be elected, or ap¬ 
pointed, a corporation counsel, whose relation to the city 
and its officers is much the same as that of the Attorney- 
General to the state and state officers. Only large cities 
have need of such an officer. 

City Attorney. This officer is appointed by the Mayor 
with the consent of the council. He prosecutes offenders 
against the city ordinances, advises the city council and 
other officers, and conducts the lawsuits of the city. 


CITY AND VILLAGE GOVERNMENT 


83 


City Marshal and Policemen. The mayor, with the \ 
consent of the council, may appoint a city marshal and 
a sufficient number of policemen. The marshal is at the 
head of the police force, and has all the powers of a 
constable. The sheriff of the county, or any other con¬ 
stable, may serve any processes or make any arrests 
authorized to be made by the city marshal. 

The mayor and the members of the city and village 
councils are conservators of the peace, and may make 
arrests for violation of ordinances or of any criminal 
law of the state, with or without warrants. 

Trustees of Villages. Villages are governed very 
much the same as cities. In place of the city council 
there is a board of trustees, six in number, elected for 
two years. A president of the board is also elected 
every second year. He has about the same powers as the 
mayor of a city, and the trustees have powers similar 
to those of aldermen. The president has a vote only in 
case of a tie. 

The president and board of trustees may appoint a 
treasurer, one or more street commissioners, a village 
constable, and a few other officers. 

Elections. City and village elections are conducted 
under the Australian system. (See specimen ballot.) 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. Do you live in an incorporated village? 2. If you do, 
make a list of the officers of your village and give the duties of 
each. 3. Do you live in a city? 4. If so, is it under the general 
law, special charter, or commission form of government? 

5. If your city is under the general law or special law, name 
the mayor, the aldermen from your ward, the city clerk, and 
the chief of police. 6. Has your city a city court? 


CHAPTER VII 


COMMISSION FORM OF MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT 

Organization. No other governmental problem of 
our age presents so many difficulties as does the prob¬ 
lem of efficient control of our cities. In seeking a solu¬ 
tion of this problem the commission form of government 
has been evolved. It may be adopted in any city now 
under the general law which has a population not exceed¬ 
ing 200,000. Upon petition of a number of voters equal 
to one-tenth of the votes cast for all candidates for 
mayor or president of the board of trustees at the last 
preceding election of such officer, an election must be 
held in any such city or village for the purpose of voting 
for or against the adoption of the commission form of 
government for such municipality. If a majority of the 
votes cast are in favor of the adoption of that form of 
government, steps must immediately be taken to put the 
same in operation. 

Officers. Under this form of government there are 
elected for a term of four years a mayor and four com¬ 
missioners. All divisions of the municipality into wards 
are discontinued and these officers are all nominated and 
elected at large. 

Nomination and Election. Preceding every election 
of mayor and commissioners a primary at large is held 
at which the official primary ballot contains the names, 

84 - 


COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT 


85 


in alphabetical order, of all candidates for mayor, and 
also of all candidates for commissioner. At the head of 
the list of candidates for mayor is printed, “Vote for 
one,” and at the head of the list of candidates for com¬ 
missioner is printed, “Vote for four.” 

At the election following the primary, the official bal¬ 
lot contains as candidates for mayor the names of the 
two persons who received the highest number of votes 
for mayor at the primary; and as candidates for com¬ 
missioner the names of the eight persons (if there be so 
many) who received the highest number of votes for 
commissioner at the primary. Any voter, however, can 
vote for some other person for either mayor or commis¬ 
sioner by writing the name of such other person in the 
proper blank space on the ballot and making a cross 
opposite the name in due form. Like the primary ballot, 
the election ballot contains the direction “Vote for one” 
for mayor and “Vote for four” for commissioner. The 
candidate for mayor and the four candidates for com¬ 
missioner receiving the highest number of votes at the 
election are duly declared to be elected. 

The Council. The mayor and the four commissioners 
constitute the city or village council. Each has a right 
to vote upon all questions coming before the council, and 
every member, including the mayor, present at any meet¬ 
ing must vote on every motion, resolution, or ordinance 
whenever a vote is taken. Every motion, resolution, or 
ordinance must be reduced to writing and read before a 
vote is taken, and upon every vote the “yeas” and “nays” 
must be called and recorded. 

The powers of the council are the same as those of 
similar bodies under the general law. The mayor has 
no veto, however. Every measure passed by the council 
must be signed by the mayor, or by two commissioners. 


86 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


and recorded before it shall be in force. Three members 
of the council constitute a quorum and three affirmative 
votes are necessary to pass any motion or measure. 

Executive Department. The executive powers, 
authority, and duties in “commission form” cities and 
villages are distributed among five departments, as 
follows: 

1. Department of public affiairs. 

2. Department of accounts and finances. 

3. Department of public health and safety. 

4. Department of streets and public improvements. 

5. Department of public property. 

The council determines the powers and duties of each 
department. It also prescribes the powers and duties of 
officers and employees and assigns them to one or more 
departments. In addition, the council may make all rules 
and regulations necessary for the efficient and econom¬ 
ical conduct of the business of the municipality. 

The mayor is commissioner of public affairs and su¬ 
perintendent of that department. The council designates 
by a majority vote one commissioner to be commissioner 
in charge of one of the other departments until every 
department is provided with a commissioner who acts as 
superintendent of that department. 

Other Officers. The council, by majority vote, may 
elect the following officers: City (or village) clerk, 
treasurer, attorney, assistant attorney, corporation coun¬ 
sel, library trustees, and a board of local improvements. 
It may also create, fill, or discontinue offices and employ¬ 
ments other than the foregoing, and, by a majority vote 
of all members, may remove any officer or employee, 
except such as are within the civil service. 

Salaries. The mayor and commissioners receive sal¬ 
aries provided by law and classified with reference to 


COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT 


87 


population and the demands of the public service upon 
their time. All other officers, assistants, and employees 
receive such salary or compensation as the council may 
provide. 

Initiative. Any proposed ordinance may be submitted 
to the council by petition signed by a certain percentage 
of legal voters as provided by law. If the proposed ordi¬ 
nance is accompanied by a petition signed by a number 
of voters equal to 25 per cent of the vote for all candi¬ 
dates for mayor at the last preceding general municipal 
election, and contains a request that such ordinance be 
submitted to a vote of the people if not passed by the 
council, then the council must either pass the ordinance 
without alteration within 30 days, or call a special elec¬ 
tion (unless a general election will occur within 90 days) 
at which such ordinance shall be submitted without 
alteration to the legal voters of the municipality. 

If the petition accompanying the proposed ordinance 
is signed by not less than 10 per cent nor more than 25 
per cent of the legal voters as above stated, then the 
council must either pass the ordinance without change 
within 30 days, or submit it at the next general municipal 
election, if such there be, within 90 days from the filing 
of the petition; but no special election is called unless 
the number of voters signing the petition exceeds 25 
per cent as stated in the preceding paragraph. 

Any number of proposed ordinances may be voted 
upon at the same election, but not more than one special 
election for the adoption of ordinances can be held in 
any period of six months. Two or more proposed ordi¬ 
nances may be submitted separately on the same ballot. 

Referendum. With the exception of ordinances for the 
immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety, 
and a few others, no ordinance passed by the council 


88 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


shall go into effect before the expiration of 30 days from 
the time of its passage. If, during the 30 days, at least 
10 per cent of the legal voters sign and present to the 
council a petition protesting against the passage of the 
ordinance, it becomes the duty of the council to recon¬ 
sider such ordinance. If, upon reconsideration, the 
ordinance is not entirely repealed, it must be submitted 
to a vote of the people at a general or special election. 
An ordinance so submitted does not go into effect unless 
voted for by a majority of those voting upon the ordi¬ 
nance at such election. 

Referendum of Franchises. Every grant of any fran¬ 
chise, right, or license to occupy or use the streets, alleys, 
highways, bridges, subways, viaducts, public property, or 
public places for interurban, suburban, subway, elevated, 
aerial, or street railways, gas tanks, water works, electric 
light, power, or heating plants, telegraph or telephone 
systems, or other public service utilities within the city 
or village limits, must be authorized or approved by a 
majority of the legal voters voting thereon at some gen¬ 
eral or special municipal election. 

Recall of Elective Officers. Every elective officer, 
except judges and other court officers, whether elected 
by a popular vote or appointed to fill a vacancy, is sub¬ 
ject to recall and removal at any time by the legal voters 
qualified to vote for such officer. To institute proceed¬ 
ings for recalling a given officer a petition demanding the 
election o,f his successor must be signed and presented 
to the council by at least 55 per cent of such qualified 
legal voters, computed upon the basis of the entire vote 
cast for mayor at the last preceding election. The recall 
or removal of an officer is thus brought about by the 
election of a successor before the expiration of the 
officer’s term. 


COMMISSION FORM OF GOVERNMENT 


89 


Abandonment of Commission Form. At any time 
after two years’ operation under the “commission form,” 
any municipality may abandon the same and return to 
organization under the general law. For this purpose a 
petition signed by at least 25 per cent of the legal voters 
is required. Upon the filing of such petition, the ques¬ 
tion of abandonment and reorganization must be sub¬ 
mitted to the people at the general municipal election. 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. How may commission form of city government be se¬ 
cured? 2 . (a) What officers are elected? (b) For what length 
of term? 3 . What is meant by referendum? 4 . How may an 
elective officer be recalled? 5 . Find out what cities in Illinois 
have commission form of government. 6 . (a) What are its 
advantages? (b) Its disadvantages? 7 . (a) If you live in 
a city which is under the commission form of government, name 
your mayor and commissioners, (b) State the powers and 
duties of each. 


CHAPTER VIII 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 
Origin 

Ordinance of 1787. In 1787 Congress passed an ordi¬ 
nance for the government of the territory of the United 
States northwest of the Ohio River. The third article 
refers to education in this manner: “Religion, morality, 
and knowledge being necessary to ’good government and 
the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of 
education shall forever be encouraged,” 

Act of Congress, 1818. In 1818 Congress passed an 
act enabling the people of Illinois to form a state consti¬ 
tution. Section six has the following provision: “The 
section numbered sixteen in every township, and when 
such section has been sold or otherwise disposed of, 
other lands equivalent thereto and as contiguous as may 
be, shall be granted to the state for the use of schools.” 
It is further provided that three per cent of the net pro¬ 
ceeds from the sale of public land within the state shall 
be appropriated by the legislature of the state for the 
encouragement of learning, and one-sixth of the amount 
shall be bestowed exclusively upon a college or 
university. 

State Constitutions. Neither the Constitution of 
1818 nor that of 1848 makes any special mention of 
education. The Constitution of 1870, on the contrary, 
has an entire article devoted to the subject, and declares 

90 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


91 


that “the General Assembly shall provide a thorough and 
efficient system of free schools, whereby all children of 
the state may receive a good common school education.” 

Laws of the State. The first law providing for the 
establishment of free schools was passed in 1825. Many 
changes have since been made, some of which destroyed 
for a time the free school feature of the system. 

Relation to State Government 

The public school system, though distinct in its pur¬ 
pose, is intimately connected'with the government of the 
state in civil affairs. The General Assembly is the law¬ 
making power, and the ordinary courts have jurisdiction 
in school matters. But there are several executive officers 
who have to do with school matters only. 

With reference to the school system the state is 
divided into counties, townships, and school districts. 

School Funds 

State Funds. The state school fund is made up from 
three distinct sources. 

Direct Tax. Prior to 1873 a tax of two mills upon 
each dollar’s valuation of property in the state was levied 
for school purposes. From 1873 to 1911 the legislature 
provided for a levy for the state school fund (in lieu 
of the two-mill tax) of $1,000,000 annually. The levy 
for this fund is now $8,000,000 annually. 

Interest on the School Fund Proper. The school fund 
proper consists of three per cent of the proceeds of the 
sales of public lands in the state, one-sixth part excepted. 
It is one of the permanent school funds of the state. It 
is called a permanent fund because no part of the fund 


92 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


itself, but only the interest upon it, can be expended. 
The interest on this fund is made a part of the state 
school fund. The one-sixth part of the proceeds ex¬ 
cepted is known as the “college fund.” 

Interest on the Surplus Revenue. In 1836 Congress 
passed an act depositing with the states, in proportion to 
their representation in Congress, the money that had 
accumulated in the national treasury—chiefly from the 
sale of public lands. Prior to this an unsuccessful at¬ 
tempt had been made to distribute this money among 
the states as a gift from the nation. The objections to 
this plan were overcome by depositing the money with 
the states subject to return at call by Congress. About 
$28,000,000 was deposited in this way, and none of it 
has ever been called for. Illinois received $477,919.24. 

When Illinois received her share, the General Assem¬ 
bly, in 1837, made a large part of it (the “surplus reve¬ 
nue,” as it is called) a part of the permanent common 
school fund. The interest on this is annually distributed 
among the schools of the state. The interest on the state 
school fund is paid by the state at the rate of six per 
cent per annum. 

State Superintendent of, Public Instruction 

State Certificates. The State Superintendent grants 
state certificates of the first, second, and third grade to 
such persons as may be qualified to receive them, and 
may suspend or revoke any such certificate for incompe¬ 
tency, immorality, or other unprofessional conduct. 

Appeals. He hears and determines all controversies 
arising under the school laws of the state coming to him 
by appeal from a county superintendent of schools. 

Counsel with Teachers. He is to counsel and advise 


» 



ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY, NORMAL 































/ 


EASTERN ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, CHARLESTON 
















PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


93 : 


with experienced and practical school teachers as to the 
best manner of conducting common schools. 

Supervision. He has the supervision of all the com¬ 
mon schools in the state. 

Advisory Duties. • He is the general advisor and 
assistant of county superintendents of schools, and from 
time to time addresses circular letters to them relating 
to school matters. He is the legal advisor of all school 
officers, and when requested by any such officers, gives 
his opinion in writing upon any question arising under 
the school law of the state. 

Report. The State Superintendent reports biennially 
to the Governor, giving the condition of the schools of the 
state; the number of schools in each county; certain 
facts regarding the number of male and female teachers; 
the number of pupils in attendance at school; the num¬ 
ber of persons in each county under twenty-one years of 
age, and the number of persons between the ages of 
twelve and twenty-one who can not read and write; 
the amount of county and township funds, and the 
amount of state, county, and township funds annually 
paid out; the amount raised by taxation; the whole 
amount annually expended for schools; the number of 
schoolhouses, and their kind and condition; the number 
of whole and fractional townships in each county; facts 
about apparatus and school libraries; and other facts 
relating to schools. He is also to give suggestions re¬ 
garding changes in the school law. This report is laid 
before the General Assembly at its regular session, and 
is printed for free distribution. 

Funds Withheld. The State Superintendent has 
power to cause funds to be withheld from any school 
officer or teacher who has not complied with all the 
requirements of the law. 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


M 

Bond. The State Superintendent must give a bond 
for $25,000. 

Salary. He receives a salary of $7,500 a year. 

County Superintendent of Schools 

Election. The County Superintendent of Schools is 
elected in the “off year” (even years not divisible by 
four) at the general November election for a term of 
four years. 

Accounts. He must keep an account of all sales of 
common school lands in his county, and of all sums of 
money received, loaned, or paid out. 

Report to County Board. He must present a written 
report to the county board at its regular meeting in 
September, giving all sums of money in his charge since 
his last report, together with a statement of the condition 
of the county and township funds in his charge. 

Township Treasurers. The county superintendent 
must examine all bonds given by township treasurers, 
and approve them or return them for correction. When 
they have been approved, he must hand over to the 
treasurers all sums of money, and all bonds, notes, and 
other securities and papers belonging to their respective 
townships. 

Apportionment. He must apportion among the town¬ 
ships in which schools have been legally conducted, the 
money received upon the auditor’s warrant from the 
state fund, together with the interest on the county fund, 
if there be one. He must see that every treasurer’s 
bond is valid before paying him the sum apportioned for 
his township. In case the directors of any district have 
not made their annual report, he withholds their share. 

Report to State Superintendent. He must report to 
the State Superintendent such facts as the latter may 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


9# 


require to assist him in making up his report to the 
Governor. * 

Advisory Duties. In controversies arising under the 
school law, the opinion and advice of the county superin¬ 
tendent must first be sought, but appeal may be taken 
to the State Superintendent. The county superintendent 
stands in much the same relation to the school officers 
and teachers of the county as the State Superintendent 
stands to those of the whole state. 

Treasurers’ Accounts. The county superintendent 
must examine annually all accounts, books, and vouchers 
of every township treasurer in his county, and report to 
the school trustees any irregularities he may find. 
He must also examine all bonds, notes, and other 
securities for school funds held by every treasurer, and 
see that they are of proper form and have sufficient 
security. 

Teachers’ Associations. He must encourage the for¬ 
mation, and assist in the management of county teachers’ 
associations. 

Examinations. He must hold examinations for teach¬ 
ers’ certificates at least three times each year upon ques¬ 
tions furnished by the state examining board. 

Fee for Certificate. The county superintendent must 
in all cases require the payment of a fee of one dollar 
from every applicant for examination for a teachers’ cer¬ 
tificate, and for each renewal of a certificate. He must 
pay the money received in this way to the county treas¬ 
urer, and give him also a list of the names of persons 
paying the fees. The county treasurer keeps account of 
such fees as a part of what is known as the “institute 
fund.” 

Teachers’ Institutes. The county superintendent 
must hold, annually, a teachers’ institute, which must 


96 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


continue in session at least five days. Two or more 
adjoining counties may hold ,an institute together. 

Instruction is free at such institutes to persons hold¬ 
ing certificates good in the county, or counties, for which 
the institute is held, and also to those who have paid 
the required fee and failed to receive certificates. All 
other persons must pay a registration fee of one dollar. 
The registration fees are added to the institute fund, 
which is held subject to the order of the county super¬ 
intendent, and is used only to defray the expenses of 
teachers’ institutes. 

Institutes During Term Time. The time not exceed¬ 
ing five days in any one year, actually spent by a 
teacher of any public school in the state in attendance 
upon a teacher’s ‘institute, under the direction of the 
county superintendent, is considered time lawfully 
expended by the teacher in the service of his district, 
and no deduction of wages can be made for absences. 
Directors must allow teachers to close their schools for 
such attendance upon these institutes. 

Visiting Schools. Prior to 1885, the county superin¬ 
tendent visited schools only when directed to do so by 
the county board, or, in other words, the county board 
could pay him for visiting schools, or not, just as it 
pleased. As a rule, few superintendents visited schools 
more than a few days each year. 

Under the present law the county superintendent 
must visit every school in his county at least once a year. 
He is to spend at least one-half of the time given to his 
office in visiting ungraded schools. 

Revocation. The county superintendent may suspend 
or revoke any teachers’ certificate issued by him upon 
evidence of immorality, incompetency, unprofessional 
conduct, or other just cause. Refusal to attend or par- 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


97 


ticipate in, or indifference or antagonism toward insti¬ 
tutes, teachers’ meetings, professional readings, or other 
reasonable requirements of the county or state superin¬ 
tendents, may be considered unprofessional conduct. 

General Duties. The county superintendent gives to 
teachers and school officers such directions in the science, 
art, and methods of teaching, and in regard to courses of 
study as he may deem expedient. He acts as the official 
adviser and constant assistant of the school officers and 
teachers of his county and carries out the advice of the 
state superintendent. It is the duty of the county super¬ 
intendent to labor in every practicable way to elevate the 
standard of teaching and improve the condition of the 
public schools. He determines, upon appeal from school 
trustees, matters concerning district boundaries. 

Bond. The county superintendent gives a bond for a 
sum not less than $12,000, to be increased at the discretion 
of the county board, by whom it must be approved. 

Compensation. County superintendents receive annual 
salaries depending upon the population of the respective 
counties. 

Board for Vocational Education 

The State Superintendent, the Director of Registration 
and Education, the Director of Agriculture, the Director of" 
Labor, and the Director of Trade and Commerce constitute 
the Board for Vocational Education to cooperate with the 
Federal Government in the administration of the Federal 
Vocational Education Law. 

Examining Board 

Members. This board consists of the State Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction, who is ex officio chairman, 
one person engaged in educational work appointed by 
the State Superintendent for four years, and three county 


08 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


superintendents, each to serve three years. One of the 
county superintendents is appointed anually by the State 
Superintendent upon the recommendation of the county 
superintendents’ section of the state teachers’ associa¬ 
tion at its annual meeting. 

Examinations. The Examining Board causes exam¬ 
inations for county teachers’ certificates to be held at 
least three times each year under such rules as the board 
may prescribe. Questions for each examination must be 
uniform throughout the state and are prepared by the 
Examining Board and sent to county superintendents 
under seal. The seal in each case is broken by the county 
superintendent only at the time of opening the exam¬ 
ination and in the presence of the applicants. The county 
superintendent conducts the examination in his county 
and forwards all papers to the Examining Board. 

The grades are then returned to the county super¬ 
intendent, who issues certificates of proper grade to such 
applicants as have passed the examination; provided, in 
each case, that he deems the personality of the applicant 
and his or her general qualifications other than scholar¬ 
ship, to fit such person for the work to be performed 
under the certificate sought. Seven different grades or 
kinds of certificates may be issued by county superin¬ 
tendents upon such examinations or otherwise as pro¬ 
vided by law. 

Expenses. The members of the Examining Board 
receive their necessary traveling or other expenses in¬ 
curred in connection with their duties as members of the 
board. 

Trustees of Schools 

Election. The business of the school township is 
done by three trustees, one of whom is elected on the 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


99 


second Saturday in April, annually. In cases where the 
boundaries of the school township coincide and are 
identical with the boundaries of the town, as established 
under the township organization laws, the election for 
school trustees is held at the same time as the annual 
town meeting. This is on the first Tuesday in April. 

Term. School trustees are elected for three years. 

Meetings. The trustees hold regular semi-annual 
meetings on the first Monday of April and October, and 
such special meetings as may be necessary. 

Appointment of Township Treasurer. The board of 
trustees appoint one of their number president, and 
some resident of the town, who is neither a trustee nor 
a school director, township treasurer. 

Division of Township into Districts. The board of 
trustees divide their township into a suitable number of 
districts for the convenience of a majority of its inhabi¬ 
tants. After districts have been formed, they may be 
changed by the trustees so as to divide or consolidate 
districts, to make a new district out of territory belong¬ 
ing to two or more districts, or to take territory from 
one district and add it to another. In such cases the 
trustees can act only upon the petition of a majority of 
the legal voters of each district affected, or of two-thirds 
of the voters in a certain territory when such territory is 
to be added to another district, or made into a separate 
district. In the latter case the territory must contain at 
least ten families. 

Distribution of Funds. At the regular semi-annual 
meetings the trustees ascertain the amount of state, 
county, and township funds on hand and subject to dis¬ 
tribution, and apportion it among the districts con¬ 
ducting schools according to law, in proportion to the 
number of persons under twenty-one years of age in 


100 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


each. The amount apportioned to each district’ is placed 
to its credit on the treasurer’s books, and is paid out 
upon the orders of the directors of the district. 

The township fund consists mainly of the proceeds of 
the sale of the sixteenth section, and the interest thereon. 
The interest only is apportioned to the districts. The 
principal must forever be loaned for the use of the 
township. 

Examination of Accounts. At their semi-annual 
meetings, and at other times if they think proper, the 
board examines all books, notes, mortgages, and other 
papers belonging to the township, and sees that the 
funds are properly managed. 

Township High Schools. The voters of the township 
may elect to establish a township high school for the 
education of the more advanced pupils. In this case a 
township board of education of five members has charge 
of the school in all respects the same as directors in the 
case of district schools. 

Compensation. The trustees of schools give no bonds 
and receive no compensation for their services. In coun¬ 
ties under township organization they are exempted from 
road labor and military duty. 

Township Treasurer . 

Clerk of Board of Trustees. The township treasurer 
is clerk of the board of trustees of his township. He 
keeps a record of all the official proceedings of the board. 

Report to County Superintendent. As clerk of the 
board of trustees, he reports to the county superintendent 
such facts as the latter must report to the State Super¬ 
intendent. 

Care of Funds. The township treasurer is custodian 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


101 


of the school money of the township and the several dis¬ 
tricts. It is his duty tg keep the school funds at interest. 

Semi-Annual Statement. At each regular meeting of 
the trustees he must present to them a full statement of 
the affairs of the township, and lay before them all 
papers pertaining to his office. 

Annual Exhibit. He must annually make out a com¬ 
plete statement of the sums of money received, paid out r 
and on hand, with reference to the township and each 
school district, and present it to the trustees at their first 
meeting after the annual election. 

Statement to Districts. Twice each year the town¬ 
ship treasurer must make out a statement for each dis¬ 
trict, giving an itemized statement of receipts and expen¬ 
ditures since the last report, and showing the sum of 
money to which the district is entitled at the time of the 
statement. This statement must be sworn to by the 
treasurer and delivered to the clerk of the board of 
directors for the district. 

Statement to County Superintendent. The township 
treasurer must make an annual statement, under oath, to* 
the county superintendent, showing the exact condition 
of the township funds. 

Term. The township treasurer is appointed for two 
years. 

Bond. He gives a bond sufficient to cover all lia¬ 
bilities incurred. 

Compensation. The compensation of the township 
treasurer is fixed by the board of trustees prior to his 
appointment. 

School Directors 

Election. Each school district of less than 1,000 
inhabitants has three directors, one being elected an- 


102 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


nually on the third Saturday in April at the district elec¬ 
tion. Election notices must be posted at least ten days 
before the election, stating the place of holding the elec¬ 
tion, the time of opening and closing the polls, and the 
questions to be voted upon. The question of building 
a schoolhouse, moving one already built, extending 
school beyond nine months, and some other questions 
may be voted upon, if due notice has been given. 

Organization. Within ten days after the annual elec¬ 
tion, the directors meet and organize by appointing one 
of their number president and another clerk. The presi¬ 
dent presides at the meeting, and executes the orders 
of the board. / 

Record. The clerk must keep a record of all the pro¬ 
ceedings of the board in a book provided for the purpose, 
and must submit the records to the inspection of the 
township treasurer on the first Monday of April and of 
October. 

Reports. The clerk must report to the township 
treasurer on or before the seventh day of July, annually, 
such facts as the treasurer is required to report to the 
county superintendent. 

Statement to Voters. The directors must present to 
the voters of the district at the annual election a detailed 
statement of their receipts and expenditures, and a copy 
of this statement must be furnished the township treas¬ 
urer within five, days of the time of the election. 

Meetings. The directors must have regular meetings 
at such times as they may designate, and may hold spe¬ 
cial meetings when necessary. No business can be 
legally transacted except at a regular or special 
meeting. 

Power to Levy Tax. The directors may levy a tax not 
to exceed 2 per cent for educational, and f 1 per cent 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


103 


for building purposes, upon all the taxable property of 
the district. In districts containing not less than 1,000 
nor more than 100,000 inhabitants and operating under 
the general school law, the tax for educational purposes 
may be as high as 2 x / 2 per cent when authorized by a vote 
of the district, but £he total school tax must not exceed 
4 per cent. 

The directors ascertain as nearly as they can the 
amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation in 
their district, and certify to the township treasurer on 
or before the first Tuesday in August, annually, that 
such an amount is needed. The directors first determine 
how much money will be needed for all purposes for the 
next year, and knowing from the treasurer’s statement 
the amount of state, county, and township funds due their 
district by apportionment, they are enabled to determine 
the amount necessary to be raised by special tax. 

School Year. The directors establish and keep in 
operation for at least seven months in each year, and 
longer if practicable, a sufficient number of free schools 
for the accommodation of all children in the district over 
the age of six, and under the age of twenty-one years. 
Unless the school is conducted at least seven months, the 
district cannot receive any of the state fund apportionment. 

Rules for the School. The directors must adopt and 
enforce necessary rules and regulations for the proper 
management and government of the schools. 

Visiting Schools. The directors must visit the 
schools from time to time as the good of the schools may 
require. 

Employment of Teachers. The directors employ 
teachers, fix their salaries, and may dismiss them for 
incompetency, cruelty, negligence, immorality, or other 
sufficient cause Directors cannot legally employ a 


104 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


teacher unless he has a certificate from the county 
superintendent good for the whole time for which he is 
-employed. 

Branches of Study. They must direct what branches 
of study shall be taught, and what textbooks and appar¬ 
atus shall be used. They must enforce strict uniformity 
of textbooks, but a change of textbooks cannot be made 
oftener than once in four years in any given study. 

Schedules. The directors must examine the sched¬ 
ules presented by the teacher and certify to their 
•correctness if no mistakes be found in them. They must 
then give the teacher an order upon the township treas¬ 
urer for his pay. The schedules must be delivered by the 
directors to the township treasurer on or before the 
seventh of July annually. 

Compulsory Attendance. Every person having con¬ 
trol of any child between the ages of seven and sixteen 
years, shall annually cause such child to attend some public 
or private school for the entire time it is in session—which 
•shall not be less than six months of actual teaching. Neglect 
of'such duty renders persons having charge of such child 
subject to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $20. 

School boards and directors must appoint one or more 
truant officers to report to them in writing all violations 
of this law and to enter complaint against all persons 
who are guilty of such violations. These officers may 
also arrest truant children and place them in charge of 
the proper teacher. 

Transfer of Pupils. Pupils may be transferred from 
one district to another upon the written permission of 
the boards of directors of both districts. Such permits 
must be filed with the township treasurer. 

High School Privileges. By a law passed in 1917, 
all of the territory in each county not included in some 


PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 


105 


high school district shall constitute a district which 
selects a board of education whose duty it is to levy upon 
such territory a tax from which is paid the tuition of 
pupils from this territory who are graduates of the eighth 
grade and who desire to attend some neighboring 
high school. 

Compensation. Directors give no bond and receive 
no compensation for their services. The directors may 
allow their clerk compensation for work actually per¬ 
formed. In counties under township organization, 
directors are exempt from road labor and military duty. 

Boards of Education 

Members. In each school district having not less 
than one thousand, nor more than one hundred thousand 
inhabitants, a board of education is elected. This board 
consists of six members and a president, who has no 
vote except in case of a tie. Three additional members 
are elected for every additional ten thousand inhabitants, 
but no board can have more than fifteen members. In 
each city of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, 
a board of education, consisting of ’eleven members, 
is appointed by the mayor with the consent of the city 
council. Prior to 1870 many cities obtained special char¬ 
ters for the government of their schools, and so form 
exceptions to the above provisions of the general law. 

Citizenship 

Good Citizenship. Realizing the importance of good 
citizenship, the legislature, in 1905, added Civics and the 
History of Illinois to the list of common school studies. 
It is now the duty of all public schools not only to teach 
the fundamental principles and practical workings of our 
national, state, and local government, but also to instill 


106 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


a healthy and justifiable state and local pride together 
with correct ideas concerning the rights and duties of 
citizenship. This duty so laid upon the public schools 
by law is emphasized by the law of 1913 granting greatly 
enlarged voting rights to women. Our boys and our 
girls as well must be trained to participate wisely in 
primaries and in elections so that men of character and 
intelligence may be selected to make, to administer, and 
to adjudicate our laws. They must be taught to make 
political parties servants—not masters. 

Duties of Voters. It is the duty of every person to 
whom the ballot is given in connection with any public 
affair, question, or office to exercise this right, intelli¬ 
gently and honestly, on every practicable occasion; to 
investigate carefully and with an open mind all questions, 
policies, or platforms to be voted upon; and to deter¬ 
mine, so far as possible, the character and fitness of all 
candidates for office. 

Duties of All Citizens. In return for the individual 
rights which are not only granted by our government 
but protected and even enforced by it, all persons, 
whether voters or not, should discharge promptly and 
honestly all their debts or other obligations, both to the 
public and to all individuals; they should not attempt 
to defeat justice nor to interfere in any way or degree 
with the religious beliefs of others; they should in all 
cases have due regard for other people’s property as well 
as for the persons of others; they should allow to all 
others that complete freedom of speech which they them¬ 
selves desire, and should refrain from all sayings that 
slander or unjustly injure others; they should respond 
cheerfully when summoned as jurors and willingly as 
witnesses by whomsoever called ; and finally, they should 
faithfully assist both state and nation in every way. 


PUBLIC SCHOOL‘SYSTEM 


107 


Rights of the Citizen. The relation of the citizen to 
the state and of the state to the citizen are reciprocal. 
The citizen who performs his duties and fulfills his 
obligations to the state is entitled as of right to the full 
benefits and protection of his government. He should 
at all times demand of those who are chosen to admin¬ 
ister the government in its various functions that they 
do so faithfully, efficiently, economically, and without 
fear or favor. To the just pride which a citizen should 
have in the government of his country, there may well 
be added a feeling of personal pride, or at least of con¬ 
gratulation, that he is an integral part of that govern¬ 
ment although he may hold no office whatsoever; for in 
the United States of America all the benefits of govern¬ 
ment originate in the people themselves, and from the 
people all the power of government is derived. 

Questions and Topics for Study 

i. When were our free schools first established? 2 . What 
are the sources of our school funds in Illinois? 3 . (a) What 
officer is at the head of the public school system of the state? 
(b) State three of his duties. 4 . How are teachers’ county 
certificates obtained? 5 . Are the trustees of schools in your 
township elected at same time as your town officers? 6 . (a) 
What are the duties of the county superintendent? (b) For 
what length of term elected? (c) Upon what does his salary 
depend ? 7 . What are the provisions of the high school attend¬ 
ance law passed in 1913 ? 


CHAPTER IX 


1 THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF 
ILLINOIS 

Prior to July 1, 1917, the different institutions, proper¬ 
ties, and statutes of the state were administered by many 
boards and appointive officers; but by an act passed 
in March, 1917, effective July 1, 1917, these different 
properties, institutions, and interests were placed under 
the control of nine departments, each of the departments 
under a director, and each of the departments having in 
addition several other officers. All directors of departments 
as well as the other officers of the several departments 
are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the 
Senate. Each officer under this act unless otherwise 
specifically provided, holds office for a term of four years 
from the second Monday in January next after the elec¬ 
tion of a Governor and until his successor qualifies. 
These departments are as follows: 

The Department of Finance, whose head is the Direc¬ 
tor of Finance, salary $7,000 per year. Other officers of 
this department are: 

Assistant Director of Finance, salary $4,800 per year. 

Administrative Auditor, salary $4,800 per year. 

Superintendent pf Budget, salary $3,600 per year. 

Superintendent of Department Reports, salary $3,600 
per year. 


1 For the complete code, see Appendix. 

108 



CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


109 


The Department of Finance shall have power: 

1. To prescribe and require a uniform system of book¬ 

keeping, accounting, and reporting for the sev¬ 
eral departments. 

2 . To prescribe forms for accounts and financial re¬ 

ports and statements for the several departments. 

3. To supervise and examine the accounts and expen¬ 

ditures of the several departments. 

4. To prescribe uniform rules governing specifications 

for purchasing supplies and to examine and ap¬ 
prove or disapprove, vouchers, bills, and claims 
of the several departments. 

5. To prepare and submit to the Governor, biennially, 

a state budget. 

Department of Agriculture, under the direction of the 
Director of Agriculture, salary $7,000 per year. 

The Assistant Director of Agriculture, salary $3,600. 
The General Manager of the State Fair, salary $3,600. 
The Superintendent of Foods and Dairies, salary 
$4,800. 

The Superintendent of Animal Industry, salary $3,600. 
The Superintendent of Plant Industry, salary $3,600. 
The Chief Veterinarian, salary $4,200. 

The Chief Game and Fish Warden, salary $3,600. 
Two food standard officers, salary $450 each. 

The duties of this department include: 

1 . The powers formerly invested in the Board of Live 

Stock Commissioners. 

2. In the State Veterinarian. 

3. In the State Inspector of Apiaries. 

4 . In the State Game and Fish Commissioners. 

5 . In the State Food Commissioners. 

6. In the State Entomologist. 


110 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


7. In the State Board of Agriculture. 

8. To have the power to encourage all agricultural, 

live stock, and dairy pursuits. 

9. To be the custodian of the state fair grounds, build¬ 

ings, and other property. 

10. To hold annually a state fair. 

11. To encourage and promote farmers’ institutes, hor¬ 

ticultural and agricultural societies, the holding 
of fairs, fat-stock shows or other exhibits of the 
products of agriculture. 

12. To see that live stock at stockyards, breweries, 

distilleries, and other like places are properly 
cared for. 

The Department of Labor, under the direction of the 
Director of Labor, salary $7,000 per year. Associated 
with him are the following: 

The Assistant Director of Labor, salary $4,000. 

Chief Factory Inspector, salary $4,000. 

Superintendent of Free Employment Offices, salary 
$3,000. 

Chief Inspector of Private Employment Agencies, 
salary $4,000. 

An Industrial Commission which consists of five 
officers, designated industrial officers, salary of 
each, including that of the chairman, $5,000. 

The duties of the Department of Labor are: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by 

law in the commissioners of labor. 

2. To exercise the duties vested by law in the superin¬ 

tendents and assistant superintendents of free 
employment offices. 

3. The duties vested by law in the Chief Factory In¬ 

spector and his assistants. 


CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


111 


4. The powers and duties vested by law in the State 

Board of Arbitration and Conciliation. 

5. The powers and duties vested by law in the State 

Industrial Board. 

6. To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage 

earners. 

7. To improve working conditions. 

8. To advance opportunities for profitable employment. 
The Department of Mines and Minerals under the 

direction of the Director of Mines and Minerals, salary 
$7,000 per year. Other officers of this department are: 
The Assistant Director of Mines and Minerals, salary 
$3,000. 

The Mining Board, which consists of four officers 
designated as mine officers and the director of the 
department of mines and minerals, salary of each 
officer $500. 

The Miners’ Examining Board, which consists of four 
officers designated miners’ examining officers, 
salary of each officer $1,800. 

The duties and powers of this department include: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by 

law in the State Mining Board. 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested 

by law in the state mine inspectors. 

3. To exercise the rights of the miners’ examining 

commission. 

4. To exercise the rights of the mine fire fighting 

and rescue commission. 

5. To acquire and diffuse information concerning the 

nature, causes, and prevention of mine accidents. 


112 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


The Department of Public Works and Buildings under 

the direction of the Director of Public Works and Build¬ 
ings, at a salary of $7,000 a year. His assistants are as 
follows: 

The Assistant Director of Public Works and Build¬ 
ings, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Highways, salary $6,000. 

The Supervising Architect, salary $5,000. 

The Supervising Engineer, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Waterways, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Printing, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Purchases and Supplies, salary 
$5,000. 

The Superintendent of Parks, salary $2,500. 

The duties and powers of this department include: 

1. The care and construction of public highways. 

2. The care of the canal properties of the state. 

3. The care and oversight of the rivers and lakes of 
the state, including waterways. 

4. The care and oversight of the parks of the state. 

5. The care and oversight of the special state proper¬ 
ties, such as Fort Massac, Lincoln Homestead, and 
the Lincoln monument and grounds. 

6. To purchase and supply all fuel, light, water and 
office supplies needed by the several departments. 

7. To procure and supply all furniture, including gen¬ 
eral office supplies and equipment. 

8. To procure and supply all clothing, instruments, 
and apparatus, for the charitable, penal, and 
reformatory institutions. 

9. To prepare or cause to be prepared, plans and esti¬ 
mates for the public buildings to be erected for any 
department. 


CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


113 


10. To have general supervision over the erection and 
construction of these buildings. 

11. To suggest plans for the development of grounds 
and buildings. 

12. To erect and maintain all public monuments and 
memorials erected by the state, unless otherwise 
provided for by law. 

13. The board of art advisors shall advise relative to 

the artistic character of buildings, works, and 
monuments, now or hereafter constructed, or to 
any work of a permanent character intended for 
decoration or commemoration. 

The Department of Public Welfare administered by 
the Director of the Department of Public Welfare, salary 
$7,000 per year. 

The Assistant Director of Public Welfare, salary 
$4,000. 

The Alienist,-salary $5,000. 

The Criminologist, salary $5,000. 

The Fiscal Supervisor, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Charities, salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Prisons, salary $6,000. 

The Superintendent of Pardons and Paroles, salary 

$ 6 , 000 . 

The powers and duties of this department are: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties formerly 

* vested by law in the board of administration. 

2. To exercise the powers and duties vested by law 
in the commissioners, wardens, deputy wardens, 
of the state penitentiaries at Joliet and Chester, and 
of the state reformatory at Pontiac. 

3. To exercise the powers and duties vested by law in 
the board of prison industries of Illinois. 


114 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


4. To investigate into.the condition and management 
of the whole system of charitable, penal, and re¬ 
formatory institutions of the state, including state 
hospitals, penitentiaries, reformatories, jails, and 
almshouses. 

The Department of Public Health, whose chief officer 

is the Director of Public Health, salary $7,000. Other 
officers are: 

Assistant Director of Public Health, salary $4,200. 

Superintendent of Lodging House Inspection, salary 
$4,000. 

The Department of Public Health shall have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested 
by law in the State Board of Health, its secretary 
and executive officer, and other officers and em¬ 
ployees, except the rights, powers, and duties 
vested by law in the State Board of Health under 
the act to regulate the practice of medicine, and 
the act to regulate the practice of embalming. 

2. To have general supervision of the interests of the 
health and lives of the people of the state. 

3. To make such sanitary investigations as it may, 
from time to time, deem necessary for the preserva¬ 
tion and improvement of public health. 

4. To supervise, aid, direct, and assist local health 
authorities or agencies in the administration of the 
health laws. 

5. To inspect from time to time all hospitals, sanitaria, 
and other institutions conducted by county, city, 
village or township authorities, and to report their 
sanitary condition and needs. 


CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


115 


The Department of Trade and Commerce, whose chief 
officer is the Director of Trade and Commerce, salary 
$7,000. Other officers are : 

The Assistant Director of Trade and Commerce, 
salary $5,000. 

The Superintendent of Insurance, salary $5,000. 

The Fire Marshal, salary $4,000. 

The Superintendent of Standards, salary $2,500. 

Chief Grain Inspector, salary $5,000. 

The Illinois Commerce Commission, consisting of 
seven members appointed by the Governor at a 
salary of $7,000, per year, succeeds the Public 
Utility Commission in the regulation of public 
utilities of this State. 

Some of the powers of this department are: 

1. To exercise all the rights, powers, and duties for¬ 
merly vested by law in the State Public Utilities 
Commission, its officers and employees, the powers 
vested by law in the Insurance Superintendent, the 
powers vested by law in the Chief Inspector of 
Grain and his assistants, the powers and duties 
vested by law in the State Fire Marshal, his depu¬ 
ties and other assistants. 

The Department of Registration and Education, 

whose chief officer is the Director of Registration and 
Education, salary $7,000. Other officers are: 

The Assistant Director of Registration and Educa¬ 
tion, salary $3,600. 

The Superintendent of Registration, salary $4,200. 

The Normal School Board, which consists of nine 
officers, together with the director of the depart¬ 
ment and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 


116 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Some of the duties of this department are: 

1. To exercise the powers and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Education of the State of Illinois, 
and the boards of trustees of the several normal 
schools. 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties of the 
following boards of examiners: veterinary exam¬ 
iner, examiners of horseshoers, examiners of archi¬ 
tects, examiners of structural engineers, examiners 
of physicians and midwives, examiners of embalm- 
ers, of pharmacists, of dentists, of nurses, of 
optometrists, and of barbers. 

3. To have power to make a natural history survey of 
the state and to investigate all insects dangerous 
or injurious to agricultural or horticultural plants 
and crops. 

4. The Normal School Board, of which the Director of 
Registration and Education shall be chairman and 
ex officio member, and of which the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction shall ex officio be a member 
and shall be secretary, shall have power and it shall 
be its duty, independently of the supervision, direc¬ 
tion or control of the director or any other officer 
of the Department of Registration and Education: 
To have general charge of the normal schools of 

the state, employing presidents, professors, teach¬ 
ers, instructors, and prescribing courses of study, 
textbooks to be used, etc. 

Advisory and non-executive boards in the respec¬ 
tive departments are created as follows: 

In the Department of Agriculture: 

A board of agricultural advisors, composed of 
fifteen persons, and a board of state fair ad- 


CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


117 


visors consisting of nine persons, not more 
than three of whom shall be appointed from 
any one county. 

In the Department of Labor: 

A board of Illinois free employment office 
advisors, composed of five persons. 

A board of local Illinois free employment office 
advisors, for each free employment office, com¬ 
posed of five persons on each local board. 

In the Department of Public Works: 

A board of art advisors, composed of eight per¬ 
sons. 

A board of water resource advisors, composed of 
five persons. 

A board of highway advisors, composed of five 
persons. 

A board of parks and buildings advisors, com¬ 
posed of five persons. 

In the Department of Public Welfare: 

A board of public welfare commissioners, com¬ 
posed of five persons. 

In the Department of Registration and Education: 

A board of natural resources and conservation 
advisors, composed of eight persons. 

A board of state museum advisors, composed of 
five persons. 

The members of each of the above named boards 

shall be officers. 

No member of the advisory and non-executive 

board shall receive any compensation. 

Each officer whose office is created by this Act, except 
as otherwise specifically provided for in this Act, shall 
hold office for a term of four years from the eecond Mon- 


118 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


day in January next after the election of a Governor, and 
until his successor is appointed and qualified. 

Each officer whose office is created by this Act shall, 
before entering upon the duties of his office, take and 
subscribe the constitutional oath of office, which shall be 
filed in the office of the Secretary of State. 

Each department shall maintain a central office in the 
capitol building at Springfield, in rooms provided by the 
Secretary of State. Tire director of each department may, 
in his discretion and with the approval of the Governor, 
establish and maintain, at places other than the seat of 
government, branch offices for the conduct of any one or 
more functions of his department. 


Tax Commission 

This commission which is appointed by the governor 
consists of five commissioners at a salary of $6,000 a year 
each, and a statistician at $4,000 a year. The term of the 
commissioners is six years, one commissioner to be ap¬ 
pointed every two years. The Director of Finance is to be the 
secretary and executive officer of the Tax Commission in its 
clerical and administrative functions, but the Tax Commis¬ 
sion is to perform the duties in the assessment of property 
for taxation without any control by the Director of Finance. 

In 1921 the Tax Commission was made a division of 
the Department of Finance, and the commissioners and 
the statistician became officials of the department. 



CHAPTER X 


MISCELLANEOUS 

State Educational Institutions 

The state has made provision for the professional 
training of teachers for the schools of the state by estab¬ 
lishing and liberally supporting five state normal schools 
located as follows: Illinois State Normal University, 
Normal; Southern Illinois Normal University, Carbon- 
dale; Eastern Illinois State Teachers’ College, Charleston; 
Western Illinois State Teachers’ College, Macomb; and 
Northern Illinois State Teachers’ College, DeKalb. These 
normal schools were formerly governed by separate 
boards but are now under the control of one board con¬ 
sisting of nine members and the Director of the Depart¬ 
ment of Registration and Education, and the State Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction. 

The University of Illinois, supported by the state, is 
located at Urbana. It is controlled by a board of trustees 
elected by the voters of the state. 

Illinois Farmers’ Institutes 

Farmers’ institutes are encouraged by the state by 
contributions to their support. 

State Charitable Institutions 

The state charitable institutions were formerly under 
the control of the board of administration but they are 

119 


120 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


now managed and controlled by the Department of Public 
Welfare.’ These institutions include ten hospitals for the 
insane located at the following places: Alton, Elgin, 
Kankakee, Jacksonville, Anna, Watertown, Peoria, Ches¬ 
ter, Chicago, and Joliet. Those at Chester and Joliet are 
for insane criminals. The same department controls the 
school for the deaf and dumb at Jacksonville, the one for 
the blind at Jacksonville, and the one for the feeble¬ 
minded children at Lincoln. 

It also controls the Eye and Ear Infirmary, Chicago; 
the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, Normal; Soldiers 5 and 
Sailors’ Home, Quincy; Soldiers’ Widows’ Home of 
Illinois, Wilmington; Illinois Industrial Home for the 
Blind, Chicago; State Training School for Girls, Geneva; 
and St. Charles School for Boys, St. Charles. 

Provision has been made for a State Colony for Epilep¬ 
tics and an Illinois Surgical Institute for Children. 

State Penal and Reformatory Institutions 

These institutions are also under the control of the 
Department of Public Welfare and they include the 
Illinois State Penitentiary located at Joliet, Will County; 
the Southern Illinois Penitentiary located at Chester, 
Randolph County; and the Illinois State Reformatory, 
formerly known as the State Reform School, located at 
Pontiac, Livingston County. The latter is for the confine¬ 
ment, education, and reformation of boys between the 
ages of ten and sixteen years, who have been convicted 
of crimes which, if committed by an adult, would be pun¬ 
ishable with imprisonment in the county jail or the peni¬ 
tentiary. Male criminals between the ages of sixteen and 
twenty-one years, who have not before been sentenced to 


MISCELLANEOUS 


121 


a penitentiary, may also be sentenced to the reformatory 
instead of a penitentiary, at the direction of the court. 

Persons are not sentenced to the reformatory for any 
definite time, and the board of managers may terminate 
the sentence at any time. Unless the sentence is sooner 
terminated by the managers, it will expire with the 
maximum time fixed by law for the given crime. The 
managers have power to release prisoners on parole 
during good behavior. 

The State Militia 

Citizen Soldiers. The militia, or, as it is sometimes 
called, the citizen soldiery of the state, consists of all 
able-bodied men residing within the state, who are 
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Certain 
persons, however, are exempted from military duty by 
the laws of the United States or of this state. While all 
the able-bodied men, with few exceptions, are liable to 
be called upon to bear arms, only those who have volun¬ 
tarily formed themselves into organized companies and 
regiments are called out by the Governor so long as these 
are sufficient in number. 

All officers of the militia are commissioned by the 
Governor. The Governor himself is Commander in Chief. 

Adjutant General. The chief officer of the militia, 
next to the Commander in Chief, is the Adjutant General. 
The Governor issues his orders to the militia through the 
Adjutant General. His salary is $7,000 a year. 

State Council of Defense 

In 1917 an act was passed by the Legislature creating; 
a State Council of Defense consisting of fifteen persons 
appointed by the Governor. They were to cooperate 


122 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


with the Council of National Defense. With the end of 
the war these bodies ceased to function. 

State Buildings, Highways, Schools, and Institutions 

All of the interests of the state formerly controlled by 
numerous boards and special officers are now cared for 
by nine administrative departments which are as follows: 
The Department of Finance, 

The Department of Agriculture, 

The Department of Labor, 

The Department of Mines and Minerals, 

The Department of Public Works and Buildings, 

The Department of Public Welfare, 

The Department of Public Health, 

The Department of Trade and Commerce, 

The Department of Registration and Education. 

Each department has a director and several other 
officers. 

(See Civil Administrative Code, page 108) 

State Boards not Affected by the Administrative Code 

Joint Legislative Reference Bureau. This bureau is 
composed of the Governor, the chairman of the commit¬ 
tees on appropriations of the Senate and the House. The 
Governor is ex officio chairman of the bureau. 

It is the duty of this bureau to collect and keep on 
file for convenient reference all such information as may 
be of use to the members of the Legislature in framing 
and passing laws for this state. The bureau appoints a 
secretary and fixes his salary at not to exceed $5,000. 

The members of the bureau receive no compensation 
aside from their regular salaries as Governor and mem- 


MISCELLANEOUS 


123 


bers of the General Assembly, but are allowed actual 
expenses not connected with their regular official duties. 

Canvassing Board. The Secretary of State, Auditor, 
Treasurer, and Attorney-General constitute what is called 
the State Canvassing Board. These officers, or any two 
of them, within twenty days after every general election, 
must, in the presence of the Governor, canvass the elec¬ 
tion returns made by the several county clerks, to deter¬ 
mine who has the highest number of votes for each office. 

Commissioners of State Library. The Governor, Sec¬ 
retary of State, and State Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction are, ex officio, commissioners of the State 
Library. The Secretary of State is librarian. 

State Civil Service Commission. The Governor, with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints three per¬ 
sons, not more than two of whom shall be of the same 
political party, to constitute this commission. The com¬ 
missioners classify all the offices and places of employ¬ 
ment in the several charitable institutions of the state, 
and in all state service except (1) officers elected by the 
people; (2) officers appointed by the Governor subject 
to confirmation by the Senate; (3) officers and employees 
of the General Assembly or.either house thereof; (4) 
judges and officers appointed by judges, clerks of courts, 
notaries public; (5) persons in military service; (6) 
presidents and teachers of the University of Illinois and 
the state normal schools, together with the private secre¬ 
tary or stenographer in the office of the president of each 
of these educational institutions; (7) assistants, regular 
or special, of the Attorney-General or attorneys employed 
by any state board or officer; (8) building and loan and 
bank examiners; (9) superintendents, wardens, and chap¬ 
lains of state charitable, correctional, and penal institu- 


124 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


tions; and (10) all clerks and watchmen in the offices of 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, State 
Treasurer, Auditor, and Superintendent of Schools. 

Under the classified service, appointments are made 
upon competitive examinations, and promotions are 
based upon examinations, merit, and seniority of service. 

The commissioners serve six years. The president of 
the board receives $4,000 a year. The secretary receives 
$3,500 a year. The others receive $3,000 a year each. 

Some Other Officers Appointed by the Governor 

Commissioner of Deeds. The Governor of this state 
may appoint commissioners of deeds in other states, in 
the territories, and in foreign states. These commission¬ 
ers have power to take acknowledgment of deeds and 
other instruments, and to take depositions. Their official 
acts have the same effect as if they had been done by an 
officer residing within the state. 

Public Administrators. The Governor, with the con¬ 
sent of the Senate, must appoint in each county of the 
state a Public Administrator, whose duty it is to act as 
administrator of the estates of deceased persons having 
no relative or creditor within the state who will act as 
administrator. 

Notaries Public. The Governor, with the consent of 
the Senate, may appoint Notaries Public. No person can 
be appointed except upon petition of at least fifty legal 
voters of the city, village, town, or precinct for which he 
is appointed. Notaries public are appointed for four 
years. They have authority to administer oaths, take 
depositions, take acknowledgment of such instruments as 
deeds and mortgages. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


125 


A deposition is a written testimony of a witness sworn 
to before a proper officer. Depositions are received in 
courts as evidence. 


Constitutional Convention 

The Constitutional Convention called by the legisla¬ 
ture to “revise, alter or amend” the Constitution of 1870 
met in Springfield January 6, 1920. It was composed of 
102 delegates/ The constitution adopted was rejected by 
the voters, December 12, 1922, by a decisive majority. 

Search and Seizure Act 

This bill passed by the legislature for the enforcement 
of war time prohibition defined intoxicating liquor, pro¬ 
hibited its manufacture, possession or use for beverage 
purposes, and regulated its manufacture, possession and 
use for medicinal, sacramental, or manufacturing pur¬ 
poses, within prohibition territory. The bill defined 
places where intoxicating liquor was handled in violation 
of these provisions, the liquor itself, and the implements 
and furniture used in connection therewith, as common 
nuisances, and provided for their seizure, confiscation and 
destruction. 


Questions and Topics for Study 

L Name and locate the five state normal schools. 2. What 
is the c *ate militia? 3. For what purpose do we have the state 
board agriculture? 4. What powers has a notary public? 



126 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


ELECTORAL DISTRICTS 

Table of Counties. The following table will be found 
useful in studying the district organization of the state. 
After each county name will be found the number of 
each district to which that county belongs. 


COUNTY 

COUNTY 

W j 6 

\ < « 

< H 

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS 

SEAT 

111 
o S 

S & 

ShO 

£ O 

APPELLATE 

SUPREME 

Adams. 

Quincy . 

.15 

36 

8 

3 

4 

Alexander. 

Cairo. 

25 

50 

1 

4 

1 

Bond. 

Greenville .... 

22 

47 

3 

4 

2 

Boone. 

Belvidere . 

12 

8 

17 

2 

6 

Brown. 

Mt. Sterling... 

20 

30 

8 

3 

4 

Bnrfati. 

Princeton. 

16 

37 

13 

2 

5 

Calhoun. 

Hardin . 

20 

36 

8 

3 

2 

Carroll. 

Mt. Carroll_ 

13 

12 

15 

2 

6 

Cass. 

Virginia . 

20 

30 

8 

3 

4 

Champaign.... 

Urbana . 

19 

24 

6 

3 

3 

Christian.. 

Taylo-rville .... 

21 

40 

4 

3 

3 

Clark. 

Marshall. 

18 

34 

5 

3 

3 

Clay. 

Louisville. 

24 

42 

4 

4 

2 

Clinton. 

Carlyle .;. 

23 

42 

4 

4 

1 

Coles. 

Charleston .... 

19 

34 

5 

3 

3 

Cook. 

Chicago. 

1,2,3,4 
5,6,7,8 
9,10 

I, 2,3,4 
5,6,7,9 

II, 13, 
15,17, 
19,21, 
23,25, 
27,29, 
31 

Not 

num¬ 

bered 

1 

7 

Crawford. 

Robinson ..... 

23 

48 

2 

4 

2 

Cumberland.... 

Toledo . 

18 

40 

5 

3 

2 

DeKalb. 

Sycamore. 

12 

35 

16 

2 

6 

DeWitt. 

Clinton . 

19 

28 

6 

3 

3 

Douglas. 

Tuscola . 

19 

34 

6 

3 

3 

DuPage. 

Wheaton . 

11 

41 

16 

2 

7 

Edgar. 

Paris . 

18 

22 

5 

3 

3 

Edwards. 

Albion. 

24 

48 

2 

4 

1 

2 

Effingham.. 

Effingham .... 

23 

42 

4 

4 

Fayette. 

Vandalia. 

23 

40 

4 

4 

2 

Ford. 

Paxton . 

17 

26 

11 

3 

3 

Franklin. 

Benton . 

25 

50 

2 

4 

1 





































































MISCELLANEOUS 


127 


COUNTY 

COUNTY 


◄ « 

M W 

o p 

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS 

SEAT 

in 

fc « M 

«g3 

p § 

P 3 

P o 

APPELLATE 

SUPREME 

Fulton. 

Lewistown .... 

15 

43 

9 

3 

4 

Gallatin. 

Shawneetown.. 

24 

48 

2 

4 

1 

Greene.. 

Carrollton .... 

20 

38 

7 

3 

2 

Grundy. 

Morris . 

12 

20 

13 

2 

5 

Hamilton. 

McLeansboro . 

24 

51 

2 

4 

1 

Hancock. 

Carthage. 

14 

32 

9 

3 

4 

Hardin. 

Elizabethtown.. 

24 

48 

2 

4 

1 

Henderson. 

Oquawka . 

14 

33 

9 

2 

4 

Henry. 

Cambridge .... 

15 

37 

14 

2 

5 

Troqnois. 

Watseka . 

18 

20 

12 

2 

3 

Jackson. 

Murphysboro .. 

25 

44 

1 

4 

1 

Jasper. 

Newton. 

23 

46 

4 

4 

2 

Jefferson. 

Mt. Vernon_ 

23 

46 

2 

4 

1 

Jersey. 

Jerseyville .... 

20 

38 

7 

3 

2 

Jo Daviess. 

Johnson. 

Galena. 

13 

12 

15 

2 

6 

Vienna . 

24 

51 

1 

4 

1 

TCane. 

Geneva. . 

11 

14 

16 

2 

6 

Kankakee. 

Kankakee . 

18 

20 

12 

2 

7 

Kendall. 

Yorkville . 

12 

14 

16 

2 

6 

Kfiov. 

Galesburg. 

15 

43 

9 

2 

5 

Lake. 

Waukegan .... 

10 

8 

17 

2 

7 

LaSalle. 

Ottawa . 

12 

39 

13 

2 

5 

Lawrence. 

Lawrenceville .. 

23 

48 

2 

4 

2 

Lee. 

Dixon . 

13 

35 

15 

2 

6 

Livingston. 

Pontiac . 

17 

16 

11 

2 

3 

T .ogan. 

Lincoln . 

17 

28 

11 

3 

3 

Maron. 

Decatur . 

19 

28 

6 

3 

3 

Macoupin. 

Carlinville .... 

21 

38 

Z 

3 

2 

Madison... 

Edwardsville ... 

22 

47 

3 

4 

2 

Marion. 

Salem . 

23 

4 2- 

4 

4 

2 

Marshall. 

Lacon . 

16 

16 

10 

2 

5 

Ma son. 

Havana ........ 

20 

30 

8 

3 

4 

Massac. 

Metropolis .... 

24 

51 

1 

4 

1 

McDonough... 

Macomb. 

14 

32 

9 

3 

4 

McHenry. 

Woodstock ... 

11 

8 

17 

2 

6 

McLean-- .. 

Bloomington .. 

17 

26 

11 

3 

3 

Menard. 

Petersburg ... 

20 

30 

8 

3 

4 

Mercer. 

Aledo . 

14 

33 

14 

2 

4 

Monroe. 

Waterloo . 

22 

44 

3 

4 

1 

Montgomery... 

Hillsboro . 

21 

38 

4 

3 

2 

Morgan. 

Jacksonville ... 

20 

45 

7 

3 

4 

Moultrie. 

Sullivan . 

19 

24 

6 

3 

3 

Ogle.. 

Oregon ---- 

13 

10 

15 

2 

6 

Peoria. 

Peoria. 

16 

18 

10 

2 

5 

Perry. 

Pinckneyville .. 

25 

44 

3 

4 

1 


















































































128 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


COUNTY 

COUNTY 

m h 
W jB 

SENA¬ 

TORIAL 

DISTRICT 

JUDICIAL 

CIRCUIT 

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS 

SEAT 

& fc H 

o2g 

Oi»fl 

APPELLATE 

SUPREME 

Piatt. 

Monticello .... 

19 

24 

6 

3 

3 

Pike. 

Pittsfield . 

20 

36 

8 

3 

2 

Pope. 

Golconda .... 

24 

51 

1 

4 

1 

Pulaski. 

Mound City... 

25 

50 

1 

4 

1 

Putnam. 

Hennepin. 

16 

16 

10 

2 

5 

Randolph. 

Chester . 

25 

44 

3 

4 

1 

Richland. 

Olney . 

23 

46 

2 

4 

2 

Rock Island... 

Rock Island... 

14 

33 

14 

2 

4 

Saline. 

Harrisburg ... 

24 

51 

1 

4 

1 

Sangamon. 

Springfield ... 

21 

45 

7 

3 

3 

Schuyler. 

Rushville . 

15 

30 

8 

3 

4 

Scott. 

Winchester ... 

20 

36 

7 

3 

2 

Shelby. 

Shelbyville ... 

19 

40 

4 

3 

2 

Stark. 

Toulon . 

16 

37 

10 

2 

5 

St. Clair. 

Belleville . 

22 

49 

3 

4 

1 

Stephenson.... 

Freeport. 

13 

12 

15 

2 

6 

Tazewell. 

Pekin . 

16 

30 

10 

3 

3 

Union. 

Jonesboro .... 

25 

50 

1 

4 

1 

Vermilion. 

Danville . 

18 

22 

5 

3 

3 

Wabash.. 

Mt. Carmel.... 

23 

48 

2 

4 

1 

Warren. 

Monmouth .... 

14 

32 

9 

2 , 

4 

Washington.... 

Nashville . 

22 

44 

3 

4 

1 

Wayne. 

Fairfield . 

24 

46 

2 

4 

1 

White. 

Carmi . 

24 

48 

2 

4 

1 

Whiteside. 

Morrison . 

13 

35 

14 

2 

6 

Will. 

Joliet. 

11 

41 

12 

2 

7 

Williamson.... 

Marion . 

25 

50 

1 

4 

1 

Winnebago.... 

Rockford . 

12 

10 

17 

2 

6 

Woodford. 

Eureka . 

17 

16 

11 

2 

5 


The congressional and senatorial apportionments were 
made in 1901. The judicial districts were fixed by the 
General Assembly in 1897. The apportionment of 1901 
divides Illinois into twenty-five congressional districts. 
Two congressmen are elected at large. The state has 
twenty-nine electoral votes. 


























































129 


































































































































130 


















































































































131 
















































































































/ 






























































































































CHAPTER XI 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 
Historical Sketch 

Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776, the date 
of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, may 
be regarded as the beginning of our national existence. 

In this connection, review our colonial history suf¬ 
ficiently to understand the need and the nature of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

Articles of Confederation. Immediately after the 
adoption of the* Declaration of Independence, a plan was 
proposed for the union of the states, but it did not meet 
with approval. 

In 1777, the Articles of Confederation were agreed to 
by Congress, and were to be in force when ratified by 
all of the states. Ten states ratified them the next year, 
but the remaining states failed to do so promptly. Indeed, 
Maryland withheld her ratification till 1781, nearly five 
years after the Declaration of Independence, and only 
i six months before the surrender of Cornwallis practically 
closed the Revolutionary War. 

The Articles of Confederation were faulty in many 
particulars. Congress consisted of one house, the mem¬ 
bers of which were chosen annually by the several states, 
and could be recalled at pleasure. Members were paid 
by the state they represented. Each state had one vote, 
which was determined by a majority of its delegates. 

133 




^HE UNITED STATES CAPITOL, WASHINGTON, 



















NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


135 


The vote of two-thirds of the states was necessary to 
authorize any important action. No provision was made 
for an executive department, nor for a judiciary. Thus 
Congress could declare war, but could not compel the 
states to furnish men and supplies. It could make peace, 
treaties, and alliances, but any state could violate the 
provisions' of these with impunity.' It could apportion 
taxes among the states, but had no authority to collect 
them. It could borrow money, but could not compel 
its repayment. It could coin money, but had no power 
to purchase the necessary gold and silver. It could 
appoint ambassadors, but could not pay even their 
expenses. 

So insufficient were the Articles that a convention was 
called by Congress to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787,. 
for the express purpose of revising them. This con¬ 
vention was attended by delegates from every state but 
Rhode Island. Two of the three delegates from New 
York returned home before the final action was taken, 
leaving that state without a vote. 

The Constitution. The Articles were found to be 
faulty in theory as well as practice, and, after consider¬ 
able discussion, the convention decided to abandon them 
and prepare a constitution on another plan. The result 
was the present Constitution, agreed to September 15, 
1787, and soon after reported to Congress together with 
a recommendation that it be submitted for ratification 
to the conventions held in the several states for that 
purpose. The Constitution was submitted as recom¬ 
mended and was ratified by eleven states in 1788. North 
Carolina ratified it in 1789, and Rhode Island in 1790. 
“Little Rhody” was practically forced into the Union. 
The other states were preparing to treat her as a foreign 
power, and to restrict her commerce by taxing goods 


136 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


imported from Rhode Island. When she entered the 
Union, she retained the old charter granted by Charles.II 
in 1663, and its abandonment in favor of a state constitu¬ 
tion in 1842 led to Dorr’s Rebellion. 

The ratification of nine states was necessary to give 
effect to the Constitution. It went into operation on 
the first Wednesday in March, 1789. As this was the 
fourth of March, the terms of the presidents begin on that 
day. On account of various delays, however, Wash¬ 
ington was not inaugurated the first time until April 
30, 1789. 

Legislative Department 

Congress. The legislative power of the national gov¬ 
ernment is vested in a congress which consists of two 
houses—the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

House of Representatives. The House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, or the “lower house,” is composed of members 
elected by the people of the several states. The members 
are elected for two years. 

Any person legally qualified to vote for members of 
the most numerous branch of his state legislature may 
vote for a Representative in Congress. This implies 
that all states are to have more than one legislative 
branch, and, as Representatives to Congress are elected 
by the people, the members of the most numerous 
branch of the state legislature are to be elected in the 
same manner. Each state prescribes the qualifications 
of voters for members of its legislature. From this it 
follows that by moving from one state to another a 
man may gain or lose the right to vote for a Rep¬ 
resentative in Congress. No state has made the quali¬ 
fications of voters for a Representative to be different 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


137 


from those of voters for state and local officers, so that, 
as a matter of fact, any legal voter in any state can 
vote for a Representative in Congress. 

Eligibility of Members. Representatives must be at 
least twenty-five years of age. No person can be a Rep¬ 
resentative who has not been for seven years a citizen 
of the United States, and who is not, when elected, an 
inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen. He 
need not live in the district represented by him, but 
it is seldom that the people of a district elect a man from 
another part of the state. In Great Britain, on the other 
hand, it is common for the people to elect to the House 
of Commons a man who lives in quite another part of 
the country. Mr. Gladstone resided in Wales, but for 
many years represented Midlothian, in Scotland. 

A Representative need not remain an inhabitant of 
the state from which he is chosen. 

No United States officer can be a member of the 
House of Representatives during his continuance in 
office. 

States cannot add further restrictions upon eligibility. 

By the conditions of the fourteenth amendment, 
adopted in 1868, no person can be a Senator or Repre¬ 
sentative who, having previously taken an oath as an 
officer of the United States or as a state officer to support 
the Constitution of the United States,^ shall have en¬ 
gaged in rebellion against the United States, or given 
aid and comfort to their enemies, unless Congress, by a 
vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 
Congress has removed this disability in nearly all cases. 

In case a state should be added by conquest or 
purchase, its inhabitants becoming citizens immediately, 
the requirements of seven yeafs’ citizenship in the United 
States would not be necessary, as each state is, by an- 


138 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


other provision, entitled to at least one Representative, 

Each territory has one Representative. He may 
speak upon any question relating to his territory, but 
he has no vote. 

Congressional Apportionments. After the taking of 

the census every ten years, Congress determines how 
many members of the House of Representatives there 
.shall be for the ensuing ten years. Under the census 
of 1910 the number of Representatives is 435. 

The number representing the population of the United 
States is divided by the number of Representatives. The 
quotient shows the number of people entitled to one 
Representative. The number is called the “congressional 
ratio.” The number representing the population of each 
state is then divided by the congressional ratio. This 
quotient gives the number of Representatives to which 
the state is entitled. The state is then divided by its 
legislature into as many congressional districts as there 
are Representatives to be elected in that state, and each 
district chooses one Representative. 

It is evident that by dividing the number representing 
the population of each state by the congressional ratio, 
fractions will occur in nearly every case, and that the sum 
of the integral quotients will be less than the required 
number. This is remedied by giving to the states having 
the largest fractions one additional Representative each, 
until the required number are provided for. 

Congressmen at Large. If a state legislature fails to 
provide for its increased representation by redistricting 
the state before the next general election, the additional 
Representatives are chosen by the voters of the state on 
a general ticket and are known as congressmen-at-large. 
Since the Congressional Apportionment of 1910, Illinois 
has elected two congressmen-at-large. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


139 


Slavery. Prior to the adoption of the thirteenth 
amendment in 1865, the population of the state was 
obtained by counting all free persons, except Indians not 
taxed, and three-fifths of the slaves. This plan was 
adopted as a compromise between the delegates from the 
northern and southern states in the Constitutional Con¬ 
vention. At that time all the states except Massachusetts 
held slaves, but slavery was dying out of all the northern 
states. It seemed for a time that the question of slavery 
would ruin all chances of a constitutional union, but 
concessions were made on both sides. The northern 
states agreed to count three-fifths of the slaves in appor¬ 
tioning Representatives, and the southern states to count 
the slaves in the same manner in apportioning direct 
taxes. The northern states agreed that Congress should 
not interfere with the bringing of slaves from Africa for 
twenty years, -and that runaway slaves should be 
delivered up to their masters; the southern, that a tax 
not to exceed ten dollars ($10) a head might be laid upon 
slaves so imported. Both compromises proved to be in 
favor of the southern states. 

The Constitution proper does not mention slaves 
directly. They are spoken of as “three-fifths of all other 
persons,” and as “such persons as any of the states now 
existing shall think proper to admit.” 

From the adoption of the fourteenth amendment in 
1868, to that of the fifteenth in 1870, negroes were 
counted in apportioning Representatives to the southern 
states, if those states allowed male negroes who were 
twenty-one years of age, or over, to vote. If only white 
men voted, only white persons were counted. 

Vacancies. When a vacancy happens in the repre¬ 
sentation of any state, from the death, resignation, or 
expulsion from office of any member, or by his accept- 


140 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


ance of an incompatible office, the Governor calls an 
election to fill such vacancy. 

Officers. The House of Representatives elects its 
speaker and other officers. The former is considered by 
many to rank next to the President in real political 
power. Upon his attitude, friendly or otherwise, toward 
pending measures the work of the House largely depends. 
He may vote on all questions, and is required to do so 
whenever his vote will decide the pending question, or 
when the vote is by ballot. 

Upon two occasions the Lower House has spent two 
months or more in electing a speaker. 

Besides the speaker, the House has a clerk, sergeant 
at arms, doorkeeper, postmaster, and chaplain. 

Aside from his other duties, the clerk, who is usually 
an ex-member of Congress, calls the House to order at 
the beginning of the next Congress, and presides until a 
speaker is elected. 

The duties of the other officers may be inferred from 
their titles. 

Impeachment. The House of Representatives has 
the sole power of impeachment. 

When charges of treason, bribery or other high 
crimes or misdemeanors are brought against an officer 
of the United States, a committee of the House is 
appointed to investigate them. If the committee reports 
in favor of his impeachment, the different charges, having 
been reduced to writing, are discussed and voted upon 
separately. If the House, by a majority vote, decides 
upon impeachment, the charges, or articles of impeach¬ 
ment, are sent to the Senate, and a committee is 
appointed to prosecute the impeachment before that 
body. The trial of impeachment will be discussed later, 

Bills for Revenue. All bills for raising revenue must 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


141 


originate in the House of Representatives. The Senate, 
however, may propose or concur with amendments, as 
in other cases. This provision regarding bills for raising 
revenue was made because the members of the House 
were the direct representatives of the people who pay 
taxes, and who therefore wish to control the public purse. 
Senators are now direct representatives of the people, 
but revenue bills must still originate in the House. 

Senate. The Senate is composed of two Senators 
from each state. They are elected by the people of the 
several states and serve six years. They are now chosen 
by direct vote of the people in the respective states 
instead of by the state legislatures. The change is due 
to the adoption of the seventeenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States. The affirmative action 
of the Connecticut legislature on April 8, 1913, gave the 
amendment the approval of thirty-six states—the 
required three-fourths of the state legislatures of the 
Union. 

The times, places and manner of holding elections for 
Senators and Representatives are prescribed by the 
several state legislatures. But Congress may, at any 
time, make or alter such regulations. 

The seventeenth amendment provides that when 
vacancies happen in the representation of any state in 
the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall 
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. However, 
the legislature of any state may empower its executive to 
make temporary appointments until the people fill the 
vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. 
Pursuant to this provision the legislature of Illinois has 
enacted that when a vacancy shall occur in the office of 
United States Senator from this state, the Governor shall 
make temporary appointment to fill such vacancy until 


142 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the next election of Representatives to Congress, at 
which time the vacancy shall be filled by election. 

When the Senators assembled for the first time, they 
were divided as equally as possible into three classes. 
Those of the first class served two years; of the second 
class, fqur years; and of the third class, six years; since 
that time one-third of the Senators have been chosen 
every two years. 

In the Constitutional Convention, the question of 
representation in Congress gave rise to long and bitter 
discussion. The larger states wanted representation 
in both houses to depend upon population, while the 
smaller states wanted equal representation of the states 
in both houses. They finally compromised by allowing 
the representation in the House to be determined by 
population, while equal representation was given in the 
Senate. 

Each Senator has one vote—that is, the Senators do 
not vote by states. Senators from the same state may, 
and frequently do, vote upon opposite sides of a question. 

Eligibility of Senators. No person can be a Senator 
who has not attained the age of thirty years, been nine 
years a citizen of the United States, and who is not, 
when elected, an inhabitant of the state from which he 
is chosen. 

No officer of the United States can be a Senator 
during his continuance in office. 

It is not necessary for a Senator to reside in the 
state during his term of office. 

Senators are “Congressmen” and “Members of Con¬ 
gress” just as truly as are the Representatives, although 
these terms are often erroneously limited to the members 
of the House of Representatives. 

Officers. The Vice-President of the United States is 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


143 


president of the Senate. He has a vote only in case of 
a tie. The Senate chooses its other officers, who are a 
president pro tempore, a secretary, a chief clerk, an 
executive clerk, a sergeant at arms, a doorkeeper, and 
a chaplain. 

While there is an actual Vice-President, the president 
pro tempore is chosen to preside temporarily in the 
absence of the former. But when the office of Vice- 
President becomes vacant, the president pro tempore is 
chosen permanently and receives the same salary as was 
paid to the Vice-President. 

Trials of Impeachments. The Senate has the sole 
power to try all impeachments. When sitting for this 
purpose, the Senators are on oath or affirmation. When 
the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice presides, as the Vice-President is interested in 
the result. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment can extend only 
to removal from office and disqualification to hold any 
office of honor, trust or profit under the United States. 
A two-thirds vote of the members present is necessary 
to conviction, and removal from office is a necessary 
consequence of conviction in case of impeachment. The 
disqualification to hold office may, or may not, be added. 
The person so convicted may also be tried and punished 
according to law. The President has no power to grant 
pardon in cases of impeachment. 

It will be seen that in matters of impeachment the 
part taken by the House of Representatives is, at first, 
similar to that taken by a grand jury, the articles of 
impeachment being of the nature of an indictment. After 
the impeachment reaches the Senate, the House, through 
five of its members, called managers, conducts the prose¬ 
cution in much the same manner as a criminal case is 


144 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


conducted by a prosecuting attorney. Throughout the 
trial the Senate sits with open doors, but after the evi¬ 
dence and arguments are in, the doors are closed/and 
the Senate deliberates in secret session in much the 
same manner as an ordinary jury. 

Meetings of Congress. Congress meets each year on 
the first Monday in December. It may by law appoint a 
different day, but at least one meeting must be held each 
year. It should be noted that all the members of the 
lower house are elected every two years, the election 
occurring in the month of November. The members 
elect do not take their seats, however, in regular session 
until the first Monday in December of the following 
year. This is one of the most serious defects in what 
may be called the machinery of our national government. 
The terms of the members elect begin on the fourth day 
of March next following the election, but in the absence 
of an extra session called by the President, the Congress 
of which they are members does not convene until 
December. 

Extra sessions of Congress, or of either house, may be 
called by the President upon extraordinary occasions. 

Membership. Each house is the judge of the elec¬ 
tions returns, and qualifications of its own members. 
Each house has a committee on elections, to whom all 
contested cases are referred, the house itself acting upon 
the report of the committee when it is rendered. The 
decision of the house is final. 

Quorum. A majority of either house constitutes a 
quorum to do business. A smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day, and are authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members. 

In England 40 members of the House of Commons 
constitute a quorum, though there are 670 members in all. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


145 


Rules. Each house determines the rules of its pro¬ 
ceedings, has power to punish its members for disorderly 
conduct, and, by a concurrence of two-thirds, may expel 
a member. 

Journals. Each house keeps a journal of its pro¬ 
ceedings. These journals are published from time to 
time, except such parts as, in the judgment of the 
respective houses, require secrecy. 

Yeas and Nays. In either house, at the request of 
one-fifth of those present, the yeas and nays upon any 
question are entered on the journal. The opponents of 
a pending measure sometimes attempt to defeat or at 
least to delay it beyond the session by making dilatory 
or trivial motions, such as motions to adjourn, and then 
calling for the yeas and nays upon all such motions. 
This practice is called “filibustering.” 

Adjournments. During the session of Congress, 
neither house can, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which the two houses are sitting. In case 
of disagreement between the two houses as to the time 
of adjournment, the President may adjourn them to such 
time as he may think proper. 

Salary of Members. The compensation of members 
of Congress is fixed by law, and is paid out of the Treas¬ 
ury of the United States. Senators and Representatives 
receive $7,500 per annum. The speaker of the House, and 
the president pro tempore of the Senate each receives 
$12,000 per annum. 

Members of the English Parliament receive no salary 
whatever. 

Privileges of Members. In all cases except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, members of Congress are 
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the 


146 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


sessions of their respective houses, and in going to and 
returning from them. They cannot be questioned in any 
other place for any speech or debate made in either house. 

Disabilities of Members. No Senator, or Represent¬ 
ative can, during the time for which he is elected, be 
appointed to any civil office of the United States which 
may be created, or the emoluments of which may be 
increased, during such time. This provision prevents 
the President from rewarding members who support 
measures in which he is interested by appointing them 
to offices created or made more lucrative during their 
terms of service. The intention is to keep the executive 
and legislative departments as distinct as possible. 

Oath of Members. Senators and Representatives, 
the members of the several state legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial officers of the United States and 
of the several states are bound by oath, or affirmation, 
to support the Constitution of the United States. No 
religious test can be required as a qualification to any 
office or public trust under the United States. 

Powers and Duties of Congress. The powers and 
duties of Congress are defined by the Constitution. 
Nevertheless there has always been great diversity of 
opinion as to what the powers of Congress really are in 
several important particulars. The members of the con¬ 
vention which framed the Constitution dififered widely as 
to the powers that should be given Congress. Some were 
in favor of giving it very great power, while others were 
in favor of limiting its power to the minimum. Since 
the adoption of the Constitution, statesmen have divided 
upon the same lines, and the contest has been transferred 
from the making to the interpretation of that instru¬ 
ment. Those who favor an interpretation which tends 
to limit the powers of Congress are called “strict con- 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


147 


structionists,” while those favoring an interpretation 
tending to enlarge the powers of Congress are called 
“loose constructionists.” 

Taxes and Duties. Congress has power to levy and 
collect taxes and duties to pay the debts and provide for 
the common defense and general welfare of the United 
States; but all such taxes and duties must be uniform 
throughout the United States. 

The Constitution contains also the words imposts and 
excises in this connection, but the laws of Congress use 
only the word duties for all indirect taxes. Indirect 
taxes are chiefly of two kinds: Duties upon imported 
goods, commonly called tariff taxes, and duties upon the 
production or use of certain articles of trade or’ instru¬ 
ments in writing, as tobacco, patent medicines, liquors, 
deeds, bank checks, etc., commonly called internal 
revenue. 

Many cases before the Supreme Court of the United 
States have involved the question of what constitute 
direct taxes within the meaning of the Constitution, 
which provides that when direct taxes are levied by the 
United States, they shall be apportioned among the 
several states in proportion to their respective population. 

The revenue law passed by Congress in 1894 pro¬ 
vided for a tax on all incomes over $4,000, derived from 
property, salary, trade, etc., not including necessary 
expenses, taxes, and interest. The constitutionality of 
this law was attacked, and the Supreme Court held it 
unconstitutional and void on the ground that taxes on 
incomes are direct taxes and so must be apportioned 
among the several states according to their population. 
The court was divided upon this point, the final vote 
upon it standing five judges against and four for the 
validity of the law. 


148 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


This decision led to the submission by Congress of 
an amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
providing that Congress shall have power to lay and 
collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, 
without apportionment among the several states, and 
without regar*d to any census or enumeration. This 
amendment was duly ratified by the legislatures of three- 
fourths of the states, and became a part of the national 
Constitution in 1913. It is known as the sixteenth 
amendment. 

Pursuant to this amendment Congress has enacted an 
income tax law in connection with revised tariff legisla¬ 
tion, providing for a graduated tax on all incomes over 
$2,000—($1,000 for unmarried persons). 

Capitation taxes are taxes laid upon persons at so 
much a head, without regard to property. 

Direct taxes have been levied by Congress only when the 
country has been at war. Incomes were taxed in support 
of the Union cause during the Rebellion, and such taxes 
were then treated as indirect taxes by the Supreme Court. 
It must be remembered that the terms direct taxes and 
indirect taxes do not mean the same in the Constitution 
as in the discussion of questions in political economy. In 
the latter case, by direct taxes is meant those which will 
stay where they are put, that is, which cannot be added 
by. the payer to the price of goods, or otherwise shifted 
so that they are ultimately paid by some one else; while 
by indirect taxes is meant those which can be so shifted. 

The ordinary taxes levied by the state and local 
authorities are direct taxes within the meaning of the 
Constitution as defined by the Supreme Court, but many 
of them may be shifted, and so are indirect within the 
meaning of political economy. Thus, the tax paid by a 
manufacturer upon the materials, machinery, buildings, 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


149 


etc., used by him in his business are counted as a part 
of the cost of production, and are included in the price 
for which the manufactured articles are sold. The same 
principle applies to merchants; the taxes which they pay 
as merchants upon their stocks are covered by the prices 
at which they sell their goods. 

It has been the policy of the national government to 
raise its revenues, as a rule, by means of taxes which are 
indirect in every sense of the word—that is, indirect both 
in form and in fact. They are levied with the expectation 
that the person who pays them will reimburse himself 
in some way, and that they will ultimately fall upon 
some one else who will, as it were, pay them without 
knowing it. It is upon the subject of levying indirect 
tariff taxes upon imports that the doctrines of “protec¬ 
tion” and of “tariff for revenue only” arise. 

Taxes for state, county, and other purposes paid by 
citizens of Illinois to the local tax collector are all direct 
in form, although, as we have seen, many of‘ them are 
not so in fact. 

Taxes may be collected to pay the public debt, and 
“to provide for the common defense and to promote the 
general welfare of the United States.” The meaning 
and scope of this expression has been much discussed by 
statesmen, and has been a fruitful source of contention be¬ 
tween the “strict constructionists” and their opponents. 

Borrowing Money. Congress may borrow money 
upon the credit of the United States. This may be done 
directly or indirectly. When money is borrowed directly 
upon the credit of the United States, interest-bearing 
bonds are generally issued by the government. 

At various times before the Civil War, Congress 
issued treasury notes and paid them to such of its cred¬ 
itors as were willing to take them. These notes were 


150 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


what are spoken of in the Constitution as “bills of 
credit,” and were promises to pay money on demand 
or at some future time. Some of them bore interest. 
None of these notes issued prior to 1862 were made legal 
tender, and persons were not compelled to accept them 
even from the government. 

Greenbacks. During the Civil War, Congress author¬ 
ized various issues of treasury notes which were declared 
to be lawful money and legal tender in payment of all 
debts, public and private, except duties on imports and 
interest on the public debt. Interest on the public debt 
was paid in coin and this could only be done by requiring 
tariff taxes to be paid in gold and silver, since the gov¬ 
ernment could get gold and silver in no other way. 

The people were compelled to take these legal tender 
notes, commonly called “greenbacks,” in payment of 
debts due from the government, and thus were indirectly 
forced to loan the government the amount of these issues 
of greenbacks, or $450,000,000. 

When the government stopped paying out gold and 
silver and issued in its stead legal tender notes, it was 
said that it had “suspended specie payments.” The 
amount of greenbacks was afterward reduced to $346,- 
681,016, and in 1879 the government again began to pay 
all its debts in gold and silver, or, as it was said, 
“resumed specie payments.” 

Commerce. Congress has power to regulate com¬ 
merce with foreign nations, among the several states, 
and with the Indian tribes. 

Under the Confederation, each state regulated the 
commerce of its people, not only among themselves, but 
with other states and foreign nations. This led to serious 
difficulties and greatly hindered trade, on account of the 
lack of uniformity in the regulations of the different 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


151 


states, and of the constant change to which they were 
subject. 

In pursuance of the power to regulate commerce with 
foreign nations, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 
1807. At this time the United States was involved in 
difficulties with England and France. The embargo was 
laid on all foreign vessels bound to a foreign port, from 
any port within the jurisdiction of the United States, thus 
compelling all such vessels to lay where they were until 
the embargo should be raised. This action was taken 
upon the assumption that American trade was so val¬ 
uable and necessary to those countries that, rather than 
do without it, they would make terms with our govern¬ 
ment. The act failed of its purpose, however, and was 
repealed in 1809. It was followed by a non-importation 
act which forbade commercial intercourse with England 
and France. 

The Interstate Commerce Law was passed by virtue 
of power to regulate commerce among the states. This 
law was designed, among other things, to prevent unfair 
discriminations in the transportation facilities offered to 
persons and places; to prevent the giving of passes to 
persons supposed to possess influence valuable to rail¬ 
roads ; to prevent unfair discrimination in passenger 
fares as between different places, and in freight charges, 
either in the form of special rates or in the form of 
rebates; and to require all charges to be open and 
public. 

Interstate Commerce Commission. To enforce this 
law Congress created the Interstate Commerce Com¬ 
mission, eleven members and a secretary, appointed by the 
president. The chairman’s salary is $12,000; the commis¬ 
sioners’, $10,000 each; the secretary’s, $7,500. 

Anti-Trust Law. In 1890 an act was passed by Con- 


152 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


gre-ss for the purpose of protecting trade and commerce 
against unlawful restraints and monopolies. This is 
known as the “Anti-trust Law.” Like the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Act, it does not apply to commerce carried on 
exclusively within a state, but it declares every contract, 
combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or con¬ 
spiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the 
several states or with foreign nations to be illegal. The 
circuit courts of the United States are given jurisdiction 
over such cases. 

Naturalization. Congress has power to establish a 
uniform rule of naturalization. 

An alien must first make before the clerk of the circuit 
(or superior) court a sworn declaration of intention to 
become a citizen. Not less than two nor more than seven 
years thereafter he must sign, in his own handwriting, 
his final petition for naturalization. Ninety days after 
this he must appear in court. He must state, on oath, 
that he is not a disbeliever in or opposed to organized 
government, nor connected with any organization teach¬ 
ing disbelief in or opposition to such government, that 
he is neither a polygamist nor a believer in polygamy, 
and that he intends to reside permanently in the United 
States. He must renounce all allegiance to any foreign 
prince or state, and swear that he will support the Con¬ 
stitution and laws of the United States. Finally, he 
must prove by two witnesses that he has resided five 
years within the United States and one year in the given 
state or territory, and behaved as a man of good moral 
character. No person can be naturalized who can not 
speak the English language, if physically able. 

When a man’s naturalization is completed, his wife 
and his children under twenty-one years of age also be¬ 
come citizens. If a man die after having made his dec- 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


153' 


laration and before he secures his “final papers,” his 
widow and his minor children can become citizens upon 
taking the necessary oaths. 

The children of citizens of the United States are con¬ 
sidered citizens, though born abroad. 

Bankruptcy. Congress has power to make uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcy throughout the United 
States. 

When a person is unable to pay his debts, he is said to 
be insolvent. Upon his own petition, or that of one or 
more of his creditors, he may go through proceedings of 
bankruptcy, by which he may be declared by the proper 
officer to be a bankrupt. He is then no longer liable for 
past debts, but may again accumulate and hold property 
in his own name. 

Coining Money. Congress has power to coin money, 
and to regulate its value and that of foreign coin. 

The metals used in coining money in the United 
States are gold, silver, copper, and nickel. The coining 
is done by putting these metals into proper form and 
size, and giving to them the stamp of the government. 
This is done at the mints and branch mints of the gov¬ 
ernment. The letters upon coins, as “S,” “D,” and “P” 
show at what mints the coins were struck—San Fran¬ 
cisco, Denver, or Philadelphia. 

To regulate the value of United States money is sim¬ 
ply to determine the ratio of one metal to another, with 
reference to their weight in coins of equal value. Thus 
the ratio of silver and gold is now sixteen to one, that is, 
the silver dollar weighs substantially sixteen times as 
much as a gold dollar. 

The value of foreign coins is regulated by Congress 
when it fixes the rate at which such coins will be received 
at the national treasury. This rate is governed by their 


154 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


bullion value, that is, their value as gold or silver irre¬ 
spective of their form and stamp as money. Foreign 
coins are not legal tender in the United States. 

Weights and Measures. Congress has power to fix 
the standards of weights and measures. 

Some of the weights and measures in common use 
have been determined by Congress; the others rest upon 
use and tradition. All were adopted from England. The 
national government and that of each state has a com¬ 
plete set of weights and measures that have been adopted 
as standards. , 

The metric system of weights and measures has been 
authorized by Congress, but is little used in this country 
except for scientific purposes. 

Counterfeiting. Congress has power to provide for 
the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and cur¬ 
rent coin of the United States. 

The penalty for counterfeiting gold and silver coins 
is fixed at a fine not exceeding $5,000 and by imprison¬ 
ment not exceeding ten years. For counterfeiting copper 
and nickel coins the penalty is a fine not exceeding $1,000 
and imprisonment not exceeding three years. The coun¬ 
terfeiting of the securities of the United States, including 
all bonds, coupons, national bank notes, greenbacks, etc., 
is punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 and by impris¬ 
onment at hard labor not exceeding fifteen years. 

Post Offices and Post Roads. Congress has power to 
establish post offices and post roads. 

By virtue of this power, the Post Office Department 
was established by Congress. It is under the charge of 
the Postmaster-General. All postmasters whose com¬ 
pensation is less than $1,000 a year are under the rules of 
the civil service. All other postmasters are appointed 
by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The com- 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


155 


pensation of the former class is derived from the renting 
of boxes and a percentage on the sale of stamps, etc. 
Postmasters of the latter class receive salaries. 

Copyrights and Patents. Congress has power to pro¬ 
mote the progress of science and the useful arts by secur¬ 
ing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclu¬ 
sive right to their respective writings and discoveries. 

The exclusive rights of authors are secured by copy¬ 
rights; of inventors, by patents. The former, issued by 
the Librarian of Congress, are valid for twenty-eight 
years; the latter, issued by the Commissioner of Patents, 
are valid for seventeen years. 

Inferior Courts. Congress may constitute tribunals 
inferior to the Supreme Court. These will be discussed 
under the judicial department. 

Piracy. Congress has power to define and punish 
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and 
offenses against the law of nations. 

Robbery at sea is termed piracy. The expression high 
seas is a general term for the ocean, including coast waters 
beyond low-water mark. The law of nations consists of a 
body of rules, founded upon justice, and recognized as 
governing the conduct and relations of independent coun¬ 
tries with one another. 

Power to Declare War. Congress has power to 
declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water. 

In 1812 Congress passed an act declaring war against 
Great Britain. This is the only case in which war has 
been declared directly by Congress. In 1846 it passed an 
act which recited in its preamble that, by the act. of the 
Republic of Mexico, a state of war existed between that 
government and the United States. A similar action was 
taken in 1898 regarding our war with Spain. 


156 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


A rebellion, or civil war, is not a war in the sense in 
which the word is used in the Constitution and in inter¬ 
national law. War, in this wide sense, can exist only 
between nations. Therefore there was no declaration of 
war against the South in the case of the Rebellion. 

Letters of marque and reprisal authorize a private 
person to cross the boundary into the enemy’s country, 
and to seize the persons or property of its subjects. 
When these letters are granted to the commander of a 
private vessel, the vessel becomes a privateer, and her 
crew may commit acts which before would have been 
piracy. 

United States Army. Congress has power to raise 
and support armies, but no appropriation of money for 
this purpose can be for a longer term than two years. 

All of the Representatives and one-third of the Sen¬ 
ators are chosen every two years. The people who elect 
them can virtually control the army through the appro¬ 
priation for its support. 

The men who framed the Constitution looked - upon a 
large standing army as a menace to a free people, and 
so took this step to prevent the President or Congress, 
or both, from maintaining a large army in time of peace, 
or from carrying on a foreign war against the will of the 
people. This is the only matter in which the power of 
Congress is curtailed in this manner. The policy of the 
national government has always been in harmony with 
this provision. At the close of the Civil War the great 
army of the Union was at once disbanded, and the sol¬ 
diers returned to the pursuits of peace with a promptness 
which astonished the governments of Europe. 

United States Navy. Congress has power to provide 
and maintain a navy. 

Although our navy has always been relatively small, 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


157 


it has distinguished itself in our wars by many brilliant 
victories. A fair-sized navy, well equipped, seems to be- 
ample for all our needs. The two years’ restriction upon 
appropriations for the army does not apply to the navy. 

Rules for Army and Navy. Congress makes rules for 
the government and regulation of land and naval forces. 
The rules for the army and navy are enforced by courts 
martial. 

The Militia. Congress provides for the calling forth 
of the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress 
insurrections, and repel invasions; also, for the organ¬ 
izing, arming, and disciplining of the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the- 
service of the United States. The appointment of officers 
and the authority of training the militia according to the 
discipline prescribed by Congress is reserved to the 
states respectively. 

The militia, or citizen soldiers, are called out only in 
cases of emergency. In 1794 and 1861-4 the militia were 
called out to suppress the Whisky Insurrection and the- 
Rebellion, respectively. In 1812, they were called out to ; 
repel the invasion of the British. While in active service 
of the United States, the militia are paid the same as the 
regular soldiers and are subject to the same discipline. 

In the war with Spain the militia, as such, were not 
called into service. But many organizations of militia 
entered the United States service, in a body, as volurrteers, 

District of Columbia. Congress exercises exclusive 
jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, and over all 
places purchased by the consent of the several states for 
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and 
other needful buildings. The District of Columbia is in 
reality a territory of the United States, although it is 
not governed in the same manner as the other territories. 


158 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


The District is now governed by a board of three com¬ 
missioners, two of whom are appointed by the President 
and Senate and serve three years; the third is one of the 
engineers of the army detailed to this duty by the Presi¬ 
dent. There are no elections of any kind by the people 
of the District, they being wholly without political rights. 
The expenses of local government are paid one-half by 
Congress and one-half by the property owners of the 
District, which comprises about seventy square miles, all 
lying upon the Maryland side of the Potomac. The 
District was originally ten miles square and lay in both 
Maryland and Virginia, but in 1846 the part on the right 
bank of the Potomac was deemed of no advantage to the 
national government, and was ceded back to Virginia. 

Electors. Congress determines the time of choosing 
electors for President and Vice-President, and the day on 
which the electors give their votes, which day, however, 
must be the same throughout the United States. 

Other Powers. Congress also has power: 

1. To declare the punishment of treason. 

2. To dispose of, and make all needful rules respecting 
the territory or other property of the United States. 

3. To propose amendments to the Constitution. 

4. To admit new states into the Union. 

5. To regulate the appellate jurisdiction of the Su¬ 
preme Court, and to determine where trial of crimes shall 
be held, when not committed within any state. 

6. To prescribe, by general laws, the manner in which 
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the 
several states shall be proved, and what shall be their 
effect. 

Under this power Congress has provided the manner 
in which acts of state legislatures, the records and judi¬ 
cial proceeding of state courts, and all records which may 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


159 


be kept in any public office of any state, not appertaining 
to a court, may be proved or admitted in any court or 
office in any other state. When so proved, or “authenti¬ 
cated,^” such records have the same faith and credit given 
to them in every court and office within the United States 
as they have by law or usage in the courts or offices of 
the state from which they are taken. This applies to 
territories of the United States, and to other countries, 
as well as to the several states. 

7. To revise and control any state laws respecting the 
laying of duties on imports and exports. 

8. To declare what officer shall act as President in 
case of the removal, death, resignation, or inability of 
both President and Vice-President. 

9. To vest the appointment of such inferior officers as 
it may think proper in the President alone, in the courts 
of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The more important of these powers are discussed 
elsewhere. 

Execution of Powers. Congress has power to make 
all laws which may be necessary for carrying into execu¬ 
tion the powers granted to it by the Constitution, and all 
other powers vested by it in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer of the 
government. 

Since the formation of the national government, 
statesmen of the strict-constructionist type have con¬ 
tended that this provision should be confined to those 
powers which have been expressly given to Congress by 
the Constitution, basing their argument upon the tenth 
amendment, which provides that the powers not dele¬ 
gated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro¬ 
hibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states 
respectively or to the people. Other statesmen have con- 


160 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


tended that many powers are necessarily implied which 
Congress must assume in order to carry out the intent 
of the Constitution as expressed in its preamble—“to 
provide for the common defense” and “to promote the 
general welfare.” Struggles have taken place in Congress 
upon this issue in connection with the chartering of the 
United States Bank (1791 to 1832); the appropriation of 
money by Congress for the building of the Cumberland 
Road to connect the Mississippi valley with the Atlantic 
seaboard; the levying of tariff duties for the purpose of 
“protection” and not “for revenue only;” the annexation 
of Louisiana and other foreign territory; and various 
other questions of less importance. 

Limitations of Power. Certain limitations of the 
power of Congress are contained in the Constitution and 
its amendments. The following are the most important 
ones: 

The Slave Trade. The Constitution provides that 
“the migration or importation of such persons as any of 
the states now existing shall think proper to admit” shall 
not be prohibited by Congress prior to 1808, but that a 
tax not exceeding ten dollars for each person may be 
imposed on such importation. This provision refers to 
the importation of slaves. The tax authorized was never 
imposed, but importation was prohibited after January 1, 
1808, and in 1820 Congress declared the slave trade to be 
piracy. 

Habeas Corpus. The privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus cannot be suspended, except when, in cases of 
rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. 

A writ of habeas corpus has for its object the pre¬ 
vention of false or unjust imprisonment. By it the pris¬ 
oner accused of crime is brought into court, and the 
cause of his imprisonment is investigated. The writ is 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


161 


also sometimes used to liberate persons confined in hos¬ 
pitals for the insane,^ or other places than prisons, and 
to obtain possession of children who are in the custody 
of persons not legally entitled to such custody. 

This writ, like all others used at law, was formerly 
written in Latin and takes its name from the words 
habeas corpus, which were contained in the old writ, and 
which mean “you may have the body. ,, 

The writ of habeas corpus was suspended throughout 
the United States in case of deserters and other military 
offenders by authority of Congress in 1863. Prior to this, 
it had been suspended by the President in different por¬ 
tions of the country. 

Ex Post Facto Laws. No bill of attainder or ex post 
facto law can be passed. 

A bill of attainder inflicts death or other punishment, 
without a judicial trial, and, in countries where it is 
allowed, is usually passed without giving the accused an 
opportunity of defending himself. 

An ex post facto law is one which makes an act a crime 
which was not so when the act was committed, or which 
inflicts a punishment greater than that imposed when the 
crime was committed. The expression applies only to 
criminal laws. 

Direct Taxes. Capitation or other direct taxes can 
only be levied by Congress in proportion to population 
as shown by the census. This has been discussed under 
the head of “Powers of Congress.” 

Duty on Exports. No duty can be laid on articles 
exported from any state. If an export duty were laid 
the effect would be to increase the selling price of ex¬ 
ported goods by a like amount, and thus make it more 
difficult for our people to compete with other traders in 
foreign markets. 


162 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Coasting Trade. No preference can be given, by any 
regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one 
state over those of another; nor can vessels bound to 
or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties 
in another. 

Expenditures. No money can be drawn from the 
Treasury, except in consequence of appropriations made 
by law. A regular account of receipts and expenditures 
of all public money must be published from time to time. 
The Secretary of the Treasury reports annually to Con¬ 
gress, giving a full account of receipts and expenditures. 
This provision of the Constitution is really a restriction 
upon the expenditure of money by the executive depart¬ 
ment, and gives Congress full control of the expenditures 
as well as of the raising of all revenues. 

Titles of Nobility. No title of nobility can be granted 
by the United States, nor can any person holding any 
office of profit or trust under them, without the consent 
of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or 
foreign state. Titles of nobility are out of harmony with 
a republican form of government. Even those framers 
of the Constitution who most strongly favored the na¬ 
tional government, as against the rights reserved to the 
states, were opposed to any aristocratic distinctions in 
connection with the government or among the people. 
In former times gifts which were of the nature either 
of bribes or of tribute passed between rulers and states. 
Such practices could not be tolerated by this country, 
and the Constitution wisely put a restraint upon all gifts 
from foreign rulers or powers. 

Civil Rights. Congress can not pass drastic laws 
abridging freedom of speech or press. The right of the 
people to assemble peaceably, to petition the government 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


163 


for a redress of grievances, or to carry arms can not be 
infringed. 

These provisions are found among the first amend¬ 
ments to the Constitution, adopted in 1791. The demand 
for them by the people as a part of the supreme law of 
the land grew out of their experience and that of their 
forefathers with the English government. It must be 
remembered that freedom of speech and of the press 
means simply the right to discuss all matters of public 
interest freely and fully; it does not involve a license to 
say anything, anywhere, and at any time, regardless of 
the truth or falsity of the thing said, or of the intent or 
purpose of its utterance. 

The constitutional right of the people to bear arms 
does not give a citizen a license to habitually carry a 
revolver or other deadly weapon. This provision refers 
to the right of the people of the several states to organize 
and equip themselves as militia, so as not to be dependent 
upon the regular army of the nation for the protection of 
their own affairs. 

Religious Freedom. Congress can make no law re¬ 
specting the establishment or prohibition of the free 
exercise of religion, nor can it require any religious test 
of any person as a qualification for the holding of any 
office. 


Executive Department 

President. The executive power is vested in the 
President of the United States of America. He is 
elected for four years. 

It was the purpose of the convention which framed 
the Constitution to make the executive as independent 
of the other departments as possible. And yet caution 


164 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


was observed lest the executive, being free from restraint, 
might become autocratic and tyrannical. Some were in 
favor of making the executive consist of two or three 
persons elected from different parts of the Union, but a 
large majority wisely favored a single executive. 

How Chosen. The President is chosen by electors, 
who are chosen by the several states on the Tuesday 
next after the first Monday in November of every fourth 
year. 

Each state is entitled to as many electors as it has 
Representatives and Senators in Congress, and they are 
chosen in such manner as the state legislature may 
direct. No Senator or Representative, or person holding 
an office of trust or profit under the United States can 
be appointed an elector. In Illinois the electors are 
chosen by the people of the state, voting by general 
ticket. In this way, each voter casts his ballot for the 
number of electors to which the state is entitled. These 
electors are put in nomination by the several political 
parties at their state or district conventions. 

The electors of the several states meet at their re¬ 
spective state capitols on the second Monday in January, 
and vote separately for President and Vice-President, 
both of whom cannot be from the same state as the 
electors. They then make separate lists of all persons 
voted for as President and Vice-President, showing the 
number of votes for each. The lists are signed, certified, 
and sent sealed to Washington, directed to the President 
of the Senate. On the second Wednesday in February, 
these lists are opened by the President of the Senate, in 
the presence of both houses of Congress, and the votes 
are counted. The person having the highest number of 
votes for President is declared President, and the person 
having the highest number of votes for Vice-President is 







Write House j Washington 







































The United States Treasury, Washington, 
































NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


166 * 


declared to be elected Vice-President, provided that, in 
each case, the highest number of votes received is a 
majority of all the electors appointed. In case the high¬ 
est number of votes for President is less, than the 
required majority, the House of Representatives at once 
chooses, by ballot, a President from the persons (not 
exceeding three of those voted for as President) having 
the highest numbers. In choosing the President, the 
votes are taken by states, each state having one vote. 

A quorum for this purpose consists of one or more mem¬ 
bers from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all 
the states is necessary to a choice. If no person has the 
required majority of electoral votes for Vice-President, 
the Senate chooses, from the two highest numbers on the 
list, a Vice-President. A quorum for this purpose con¬ 
sists of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and 
a majority of the whole number is necessary to a choice. 

No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
President, is eligible to the office of Vice-President of the - 
United States. 

If the House of Representatives should fail to choose 
a President, whenever the right of choice falls upon it, 
before the fourth day of March next following, the Vice- 
President would act as President, as in case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the President. 

Electoral Count Bill. The Constitution makes no pro¬ 
vision for cases in which there are two certificates of 
electoral votes from the same .state. 

In 1876 there were 369 electors and 185 were neces¬ 
sary to elect a President. Tilden and Hendricks received 
184 votes, Hayes and Wheeler 164 votes, and four states 
*—South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon—hav¬ 
ing a total of 21 votes, returned two certificates each. 

It then became necessary to decide not only which were 


166 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the legal returns from those states, but also who should 
determine which were legal. 

The matter created much discussion, which was car¬ 
ried on amidst great excitement. After much delay and 
debate, Congress referred all the cases to an Electoral 
Commission, consisting of fifteen members—five Sen¬ 
ators, five Representatives and five Justices of the Su¬ 
preme Court. The cases were all decided by a vote of 
eight to seven in favor of Hayes and Wheeler, who were 
declared elected by an electoral vote of 185 to 184. 

In 1887, Congress passed what is known as the 
Electoral Count Bill. The following are its leading 
provisions: 

Each state may provide by law for the final deter¬ 
mination, by judicial or other proceedings, of all cases 
of contest concerning the appointment of its electors. 
And if such provision be made by law prior to the day 
for appointing electors, and if all contests have been 
determined according to such law, at least six days before 
the time fixed for the meeting of the electors to cast their 
votes, such determination shall be conclusive, and shall 
govern the counting of the electoral votes so far as that 
state is concerned. 

In case only one return is made by any state, no 
electoral votes which have been regularly given by 
electors whose appointments have been lawfully certified 
by the Governor can be rejected. But the two houses 
concurrently may reject the votes when they agree that 
they have not been regularly given by electors whose 
appointment has been legally certified. 

In case more than one return is made by any state, 
only those votes shall be counted which have been regu¬ 
larly given by electors who are shown by the determina¬ 
tion of the state tribunal to be duly appointed. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


167 


In case two or more returns from the same state 
claim to be thus determined by lawful tribunals, only 
the votes of those electors shall be counted whose title 
as electors the two houses, acting separately, shall deter¬ 
mine to be supported by the decision of the state ren¬ 
dered according to its laws. 

In case two or more returns are made by the same 
state, and no lawful determination has been made in the 
state, only those votes can be counted which the two 
houses concurrently decide are the lawful votes of legally 
appointed electors. But if the two houses disagree with 
respect to the counting of the votes, the votes of the 
electors whose appointment is certified by the Governor 
of the state are counted. 

The Electoral System. Whatever may be the merits 
or demerits of the system by which the President is 
chosen by electors, it is certain that it does not realize 
the objects sought by the framers of the Constitution. 
They wished to avoid the “heats and ferments” of elec¬ 
tions of President by a popular vote, and also to make 
the President entirely independent of the body choosing 
him. The supposition was that under the system 
adopted, the electors would be free and untrammeled 
when they met to cast their votes, and that each would 
vote for the candidate who seemed to him to be best 
qualified, all things considered. But such has not been 
the case since 1796. In order to fully understand the 
system which now prevails it is necessary to consider 
two elements which exist without any provision of con¬ 
stitution or of law, but which really control the entire 
matter. 

National Conventions. National nominating conven¬ 
tions are mere party measures, but they are governed by 
fixed rules which have grown up since 1832. Each party 


168 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


has a regular committee which calls its convention in a 
prescribed manner. The convention nominates party 
candidates for President and Vice-President, and adopts 
a declaration of party principles called a “platform.” 
The statement of the platform upon a particular subject 
or issue of the campaign is called a “plank.” The candi¬ 
dates nominated are expected to “stand squarely upon 
the platform.” 

Advisory Vote on Candidates for President. During 

the campaign of 1912 many states, including Illinois, 
passed laws providing for an advisory vote on the Presi¬ 
dent to be held under the primary election laws of the 
state. 

State Electoral Tickets. The state organization of 
every political party participating in the national election 
nominates two electors-at-large—that is, chosen from the 
entire state—and an elector from each congressional dis¬ 
trict. The men thus nominated make up the electoral 
ticket for that state, and are voted for as a portion of 
the party ticket at the ensuing election. 

The electors of the party which is successful in any 
state constitute what is called the “Electoral College” of 
that state, and from the time of their election are gov¬ 
erned by the Constitution, and the laws of their state 
and of Congress as hereinbefore given. 

By means of this party machinery the electors are 
pledged in advance to vote for a particular party candi¬ 
date for President and also for Vice-President. It is 
difficult to see how the “heat and ferment” of our na¬ 
tional campaigns could be much greater under any other 
system of choosing a President. 

Eligibility. The President must be a natural born 
citizen of the United States and at least thirty-five years 
of age. The same is true of the Vice-President. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


169 


Residence abroad on official duty, as that of an ambas¬ 
sador or minister, is not a disqualification. 

Presidential Succession. In case of the removal of 
the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or 
inability to perform the duties of office, the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, if there be one, takes the oath of office, and becomes 
President. If there should be no Vice-President, the 
duties of the President devolve upon the Secretary of 
State, and in case of his death, resignation, or removal 
irom office, upon the Secretary of the Treasury, and so 
on through the cabinet officers, the succession being in 
the order in which the offices were established by Con¬ 
gress; viz., Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, 
Secretary of War, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, 
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. The 
law.concerning the presidential succession applies only 
to such cabinet officers as have been appointed with the 
consent of the United States Senate, and such as are 
eligible to the office of President under the Constitution. 

Prior to 1886, the order of succession after the Vice- 
President was president pro tempore of the Senate, and 
speaker of the Plouse of Representatives. But it some¬ 
times happens that these offices are both vacant at the 
same time, on account of the fact that one Congress 
ends on the fourth of March, and the next does not regu¬ 
larly meet and elect officers until the first Monday in the 
following December. On this account, chiefly, Congress 
changed the presidential succession to the members of 
the cabinet in the order indicated. By this arrangement, 
the successor to the presidency is sure to be of the same 
political party as his predecessor. 

When the office of President becomes vacant the 
Vice-President takes the oath of office and becomes 
President. But when a vacancy occurs in the office of 


170 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Vice-President, it continues until the next presidential 
election. 

Oath. Before entering upon the duties of his office, 
the President solemnly swears (or affirms) that he will 
faithfully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of his ability, preserve, pro¬ 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. 

The Constitution and laws merely fix the date and 
prescribe the oath to be taken in connection with the 
President’s inauguration. It is customary for the Presi¬ 
dent to deliver an inaugural address before taking the 
oath of office, and for the Chief Justice to administer the 
oath; but the address is not required of the President, 
and any magistrate who has power to administer oaths 
could lawfully act upon this occasion. 

Commander-in-Chief. The President is Commander- 
in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States, and 
of the militia of the several states when they are called 
into the actual service of the United States. The Presi¬ 
dent has never taken command of the army or navy in 
person, but has delegated his authority to officers whom 
he chose for that purpose. 

Although great authority is given the President in 
making him Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, 
yet so many safeguards were provided in the Constitu¬ 
tion as a whole, that the President, were he so disposed, 
could not long use the military power of the country 
against the liberties of the people without the consent 
of Congress. 

Reprieves and Pardons. The President has power to 
grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. The 
Supreme Court has held that the President may commute 
a sentence of death to imprisonment for life. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


171 


In cases of impeachment it was considered that the 
power to pardon would be liable to abuse, and for this 
reason a judgment in impeachment proceedings cannot 
be changed or set aside by any pardoning power. But 
the giving of a pardoning power to the executive in all 
other cases of offenses against the government is a wise 
and humane provision of the Constitution. 

Treaties. The President has power, with the consent 
of the Senate, to make treaties. A treaty is an agreement 
between two or more sovereign nations. 

When a treaty is made, the President acts through 
the Secretary of State, or an ambassador appointed for 
the purpose. This officer agrees with the representative 
of the other nation upon the terms of the treaty, and 
after it has been signed by them, it is submitted for the 
ratification of the respective governments. Accordingly, 
the President presents the treaty to the Senate for its 
ratification. While discussing a treaty, the Senate sits 
with closed doors. This is called “going into executive 
session.” If two-thirds of the Senate present concur in 
the ratification of the treaty, and it is ratified by the 
other nation, the President, by proclamation, makes the 
treaty public, and it becomes a part of the supreme law 
of the land. 

In the case of the war with Spain, the representatives 
of the two nations first signed a “protocol,” or prelim¬ 
inary agreement, according to which further negotiations 
were to be carried on until a final treaty should result. 

Executive Appointments. The President nominates, 
and, with the consent of the Senate, appoints ambassa¬ 
dors, other public ministers, consuls, judges of the 
Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United 
States, that are not otherwise provided for. Nominations 
made by the President are presented to the Senate in 


172 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


writing, and are acted upon by that body in “executive 
session.” Only a majority is necessary to confirm 
appointments. 

A minister of the government is a person who repre¬ 
sents it, and manages its interests at the seat of govern¬ 
ment of some other power. A minister of the highest 
rank is called an ambassador. 

A consul resides in a foreign country, and acts as 
agent for his government, protecting its rights, com¬ 
merce, merchants, seamen, and its citizens while sojourn¬ 
ing in such foreign country. 

The Constitution says nothing in regard to removals 
from office. The First Congress decided, by a close vote, 
that the President might remove an officer without con¬ 
sulting the Senate. In 1867, however, Congress passed 
what is known as the “Tenure of Office Bill,” which 
provided that the President might suspend an officer, 
when the Senate was not in session, reporting his action 
with the reasons for it to the Senate within twenty days 
after its assembling. If the Senate should not concur, 
the suspended officer was to be reinstated; if it should 
concur in the removal, another person might be ap¬ 
pointed. The bill was vetoed by President Johnson but 
was passed over his veto by Congress. The President 
afterward removed Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 
after the Senate had refused to concur in his removal. 
This was the chief cause of the articles of impeachment 
which the House of Representatives brought against 
Johnson. After a trial lasting nearly three months, the 
Senate found the President not guilty. The Tenure of 
Office Bill is not now in force. 

While the Senate is in session, the President can now 
remove an officer by nominating and, with the consent 
of the Senate, appointing his successor. In such case the 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


173 


person appointed does not receive his commission, nor 
the incumbent vacate his office, until the nomination of 
the appointee has been confirmed. If the Senate is not 
in session, the President can remove an officer by ap¬ 
pointing his successor, who at once receives his commis¬ 
sion and begins the duties of the office. If, at its next 
session, the Senate refuses to confirm the nomination, 
the President nominates another person, but the removal 
stands in either case. When vacancies occur in the recess 
of Congress the procedure is the same as in the case of 
removals made in the recess. 

The Civil Service. The officers of the national gov¬ 
ernment who are appointed pursuant to law, together 
with persons employed to perform routine duties in the 
various departments, constitute what is known as the 
civil service. Since the Civil War much has been said 
about “civil service reform.” The “civil service reform¬ 
ers” contend that all inferior officers and employees who 
perform routine duties should be appointed with sole 
reference to their fitness, and during good behavior. 
Since 1883 we have had the “civil service law,” which 
provides that positions in the departments, custom 
houses, and the large postoffices shall be filled, and pro¬ 
motions in cases of vacancies shall be made under the 
merit system, the leading feature of which is the com¬ 
petitive examination which all candidates must undergo. 
In the absence of the merit system, appointments have 
usually been made for reasons which take* but little 
account of personal fitness. Sometimes appointments 
have been made to punish political enemies, sometimes 
to reward political friends, sometimes to promote per¬ 
sonal ends, and usually to strengthen the party in power. 
In defending this practice on the part of the politicians 
of the State of New York, William L. Marcy, of that 


174 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


state, said in the United States Senate: “They [the 
politicians] see nothing wrong in the rule that to the 
victors belong the spoils of the enemy.” Since then this 
practice has been known as the “spoils system.” 

The President’s Message. The President must, from 
time to time, give to Congress information of the state 
of the Union, and recommend for consideration such 
measures as he may deem necessary and expedient. 

It has become the custom for the President to send a 
message to Congress at the beginning of each regular 
session. Accompanying this are the reports of the vari¬ 
ous executive departments. Special messages are sent 
by the President whenever he deems them expedient, or 
when Congress has requested information upon some 
subject. 

Presidents Washington and Adams delivered their 
messages in person to both houses assembled in the 
Senate chamber, and each house afterwards presented a 
formal reply. President Jefferson, however, sent his 
messages to Congress, and they were read to each house 
by its clerk. His example has been followed by all other 
Presidents with the exception of President Wilson, who 
returned to the custom of Presidents Washington and 
Adams in reading his messages to Congress in persoil. 
No replies are now made by Congress. 

President’s Veto. Every order, resolution, or vote, 
to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives is necessary (except on a question of 
adjournment) must be presented to the President, and 
before it can take effect, must be approved by him, or, 
being disapproved by him, must be re-passed by two- 
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
When a bill is passed by both houses, it is sent to the 
President for his signature. If he wishes the bill to 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


175 


become a law, he signs it, and so makes it a law. But 
if he does not wish it to become a law, he does not sign 
it, but sends it back to the house in which it originated. 
He sends with it his objections, which are written in the 
journal of this house, and the bill is again taken up. 
This time, in 'order to pass, it must receive the favorable 
vote of two-thirds of this house. If it receives this vote, 
it is sent, together with the objections of the President, 
to the other house. A vote of two-thirds of this house 
makes it a law without the signature of the President. 
In all such cases, the vote of each house must be by yeas 
and nays, and be entered upon the journal. 

If the President does not return the bill within ten 
days (Sundays not counted) after it is sent to him, it 
becomes a law just as if he had signed it, unless Congress 
adjourns before the ten days are up, and so prevents its 
return. 

The discussion about the President’s veto applies to 
that of the Governor of Illinois, with two exceptions. A 
vote of two-thirds of a quorum in each house of Congress 
will pass a bill over the President’s veto, while in this 
state a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to 
each house is necessary to pass a bill over the Governor’s 
veto. 

After the adjournment of Congress, all bills not 
signed by the President before the time of adjournment 
fail to become laws, although the President may have 
no objection to them. After the adjournment of our 
state legislature, the Governor has ten days in which to 
file bills, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary 
of State. All bills that are not so filed become laws, 
whether signed by the Governor, or not. 

Other Powers and Duties. The President receives 
ambassadors and other public ministers, commissions all 


176 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


officers of the United States, and takes care that the 
laws are faithfully executed. 

Executive Departments. The executive business of 
the United States is arranged under ten departments. 
Nearly all of these departments are subdivided into 
bureaus. The Constitution does not prescribe the num¬ 
ber, names, nor functions of these departments. 

Heads of Departments. The heads of the depart¬ 
ments are appointed by the President, and confirmed by 
the Senate. The President may require their written 
opinions on any subject relating to the duties of their 
respective offices. 

The salary of each is $12,000 a year. 

Department of State. The Department of State, at 
the head of which is the Secretary of State, has charge 
of our relations with foreign countries, and of the public 
archives. 

The Secretary of State countersigns all proclamations 
issued by the President. He is keeper of the great seal 
of the United States, and affixes the seal to all commis¬ 
sions given by the President. He has charge of the 
correspondence with foreign ministers, and presents such 
ministers to the President. He has various other impor¬ 
tant duties. 

The Department of State ranks first in point of dig¬ 
nity, and the Secretary of State is the head of the 
President’s cabinet. His office is usually regarded as 
-next in importance to that of the President. 

The Department of State has three bureaus. 

The Diplomatic Bureau. This bureau embraces all 
matters pertaining to our diplomatic relations with for¬ 
eign powers. The diplomatic service is carried on by 
the Secretary of State through our ministers, who are 
of four different ranks, as.follows: 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


177 


Ambassador. Ambassadors extraordinary and pleni¬ 
potentiary are diplomats of the highest rank. We send 
them to thirteen countries: Great Britain, France, Ger¬ 
many, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Argentine Republic, 
Brazil, Chile, Peru, Spain, and Turkey. An ambassador’s 
salary is $17,500 a year. 

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary. 

We send envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipo¬ 
tentiary to thirty-five governments. The envoys to 
China, Cuba, Poland, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands 
receive $12,000 a year each. Envoys receiving $10,000 a 
year each are sent to the following countries: Austria, 
Bolivia, Bulgaria, Czecho-Slovakia, Colombia, Costa 
Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, 
Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, ■ Monte¬ 
negro, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Persia, 
Portugal, Roumania, Salvador; Kingdom of Serbs, 
Croats, and Slovenes; Siam, Sweden, Switzerland, Uru¬ 
guay, and Venezuela. 

Ministers Resident. Nearly all ministers resident have 
been raised to the rank of envoys, extraordinary and 
ministers plenipotentiary. Those of lesser rank are 
usually given the title of consul general and sent to the 
smaller countries at yearly salaries ranging from $4,000 
to $7,000. 

Secretaries of Embassy and Legation. A secretary of 
embassy appointed to do the clerical work of the em¬ 
bassy, is sent to every government to which an ambas¬ 
sador is accredited. A secretary of legation performs a 
like service for every envoy or minister. 

The Consular Bureau. This bureau has charge of 
all matters pertaining to our consular service. Consuls 
are not diplomats, but rather commercial agents of our 
government. Their duty is to watch over our com¬ 
mercial interests in the foreign ports to which they are 


178 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


sent, and to protect the rights of seamen. They also 
take possession of the personal property of American 
citizens who die abroad. 

Consuls collect fees, but in most cases these are ac¬ 
counted for to the government, and the consuls receive 
salaries ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 a year. Those 
who receive salaries cannot transact any business for 
themselves. 

The Domestic Bureau. This bureau has charge of all 
matters of state which are purely of domestic concern. 

Treasury Department. Since the issuing of the 
paper money, called greenbacks, and the establishment 
of the national banking system, the importance of the 
Treasury Department has been largely increased. It is 
now the most complex and extensive of all the executive 
departments, and is under the charge of the Secretary of 
the Treasury. Immediately under the Secretary of the 
Treasury are the following officers: The Comptroller, 
the Auditor, the Treasurer, the Register, and the Assist¬ 
ant Secretary. 

This department manages and superintends the col¬ 
lection of the public revenue, issues warrants for money 
to be drawn from the treasury in pursuance of appro¬ 
priations made by law, and has general charge of the 
management of the finances of the nation. 

There are two bureaus in the office of Comptroller, 
and six bureaus in the office of the Auditor. In addition 
to the officers named above, there is a Commissioner of 
Customs, a Commissioner of Internal Revenue, a Di¬ 
rector of Statistics,*a Director of the Mint, and a Director 
of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 

There are two Comptrollers of the Treasury. They 
examine the accounts that have been passed upon by the 
Auditors and certify them to the Register. 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


179 


The Register is the book-keeper of the national gov¬ 
ernment. His books show all receipts and expenditures. 

The Treasurer receives and keeps all moneys of the 
United States, and pays them out upon proper warrants. 

The Commissioner of Customs supervises the collec¬ 
tion of duties at the custom houses. 

The Comptroller of the Currency has supervision of 
the circulation of national banks. 

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has charge of 
the collection of taxes upon tobacco, malt, and spirituous 
liquors, and sees that all stamp taxes or duties upon 
written instruments, patent medicines, etc., are duly paid 
and the stamps canceled pursuant to law. The duties 
of the Directors of the Mint, Bureau of Statistics, and 
of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing may be in¬ 
ferred from their titles. 

Department of War. The Secretary of War is at the 
head of this department. Under the President, he has 
charge of the affairs of the army. He has the custody 
of all records of the army, superintends the purchase of 
military supplies, directs matters of army transportation, 
oversees the work of the signal service and the improve¬ 
ment of rivers and harbors, and attends to the supply of 
arms and munitions of war. 

The military academy at West Point is under the 
supervision of the War Department. To this academy 
are appointed cadets, there being one from each con¬ 
gressional district, one from each territory, one from the 
District of Columbia, and ten from the United States at 
large. By law these appointments are all made by the 
President, but, practically, those from the congressional 
districts are recommended by the respective Repre¬ 
sentatives in Congress to the Secretary of War, who 
nominates them toHhe President. The selection is some- 


180 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


times made by competitive" examination. Cadets must 
be between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two, and 
must pledge themselves to serve eight years unless 
sooner discharged. The entire expense of the academy 
is paid by the national government. 

Department of Justice. The Departriient of Justice, 
at the head of which is the Attorney-General, has gen¬ 
eral charge of the legal affairs of the nation. The 
Attorney-General prosecutes all suits in the Supreme 
Court in which the United States is interested, and gives 
his advice and written opinions upon questions of law 
to the President and the heads of departments, when 
such questions pertain to the duties of their offices. 
These opinions are afterward printed for reference. 

Post Office Department. The Post Office Department, 
at the head of which is the Postmaster-General, has gen¬ 
eral charge of the carrying of the United States mails. 

In the early days of the republic the rate of postage 
was not uniform throughout the United States as at 
present. At one time the rate upon ordinary letters was 
five cents to any office within thirty miles, ten cents for a 
greater distance, and from that up to twenty-five cents, 
for which sum a letter could be sent across the continent. 
Postage was not then paid in advance, but by the person 
who received the letter. Later a law was passed which 
provided for a postage rate of three cents upon letters for 
transmission to any point in the country, provided the 
postage was prepaid; if not prepaid the rate was five 
cents. In this way the people became accustomed to the 
prepayment of postage, and finally this was required 
by law. 

The Postmaster-General controls more patronage than 
any other executive officer. 

Department of the Navy. The Department of the 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


181 


Navy, at the head of which is the Secretary of the Navy, 
has charge of the navy and the naval academy at An¬ 
napolis. Cadets for the naval academy are of the same 
number and are appointed in the same manner as those 
for the military academy. The cadets must not be less 
than fourteen, nor more than eighteen years of age. 

Department of the Interior. The Department of the 
Interior has charge of the granting of patents and pen¬ 
sions, of the public lands, of Indian affairs, of the taking 
of the census, and of educational affairs. The Secretary 
of the Interior is at the head of this department. It is a 
department largely made up of offices which formerly 
belonged to other departments. 

The patent office is under the charge of the Com¬ 
missioner of Patents. 

The Commissioner of Pensions has charge of the 
pension office. 

The land office is under the charge of an officer 
styled the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Under the Secretary of the Interior there are also the 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Superintendent of 
the Census, and the Bureau of Education. 

Department of Agriculture. The Department of 
Agriculture collects and preserves information concern¬ 
ing agriculture. It also collects seeds and plants, tests 
them, and distributes them and information concerning 
agriculture among farmers and other interested persons. 

These duties were formerly performed by the Bureau 
of Agriculture of the Department of the Interior. The 
bureau was changed to an independent department in 
1889. The head of this department is the Secretary of 
Agriculture. 

Department of Commerce. This department was cre¬ 
ated in 1903 as a part of a Department of Commerce and 


182 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Labor. In 1913 the Department of Commerce became a 
separate department and its head is the Secretary of 
Commerce. 

The function of this department is not clearly defined 
by law. It is worthy of note that the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission, which is more closely related to 
domestic commerce than any other part of the national 
government, remains independent of the new Depart¬ 
ment of Commerce, while the consular service, which is 
more closely related to foreign commerce than any other 
bureau of the government, remains in the Department 
of State. The Department of Commerce has several 
bureaus, among which are those of corporations and of 
manufactures. 

Department of Labor. In 1913 Congress created a 
separate Department of Labor. It is under the charge 
of a Secretary of Labor, and its purpose is to foster, 
promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners of 
the United States, to improve their working conditions, 
and to advance their opportunities for profitable employ¬ 
ment. The principal bureaus of this department are 
those of immigration, naturalization, and labor statistics. 

President’s Cabinet. The heads of the several depart¬ 
ments form what is known as the President’s cabinet. 
They advise him, when asked to do so, upon the various 
matters pertaining to the departments. Cabinet meet¬ 
ings are held at the request of the President, at which 
the more important matters of the government are dis¬ 
cussed. The President is free to carry out the recom¬ 
mendations of the cabinet, or not, as he sees fit. 

The cabinet, as such, has no legal existence, and per¬ 
forms no legal duties. It is not mentioned in the Consti¬ 
tution. Washington called the heads of departments 
together for consultation, and the practice has been kept 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


183 


lip by his successors. No record is kept of the proceed¬ 
ings of the cabinet, they being merely of an advisory 
nature. 

President’s Salary. The President receives for his 
services a compensation which can neither be increased 
nor diminished during the term for which he is elected, 
and he cannot receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States, or from any state. 

The President receives $75,000 a year as salary, 
$25,000 for traveling expenses, and $50,000 for mainte¬ 
nance of the White House. 

The Vice-President receives $12,000 a year. 

Judicial Department 

Judicial Power. The judicial power of the United 
States is vested in one Supreme Court, ordained by the 
Constitution, and in such inferior courts as Congress may 
from time to time establish. 

The judicial power extends to: 

(1) All cases in law and equity arising under the 
Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made under their authority. 

(2) All cases affecting ambassadors and other public 
ministers and consuls. 

(3) All cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. 

(4) Controversies to which the United States is a 
party. 

(5) Controversies between two or more states. 

(6) Controversies between a state and the citizens 
of another state. 

(7) Controversies between citizens of different states. 

(8) Controversies between citizens of the same state 
claiming lands under grants of different states. 


184 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


(9) Controversies between a state, or the citizens 
thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution the 
states were unwilling to be sued by citizens of other 
states, domestic or foreign. This was contrary to the 
prevailing notions of the rights and dignity of a state 
in case of a controversy between it and a private person. 
It was at first claimed that the sixth and ninth clauses 
given above did not apply to suits brought against states, 
but to those brought by the states themselves. That is 
to say, that a state could go to law voluntarily as a 
plaintiff, but could not be forced into court as a defend¬ 
ant without its consent. This view, however, was de¬ 
cided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be 
erroneous, and it was held that a citizen could sue a 
state in the national courts. Thereupon Congress pro¬ 
posed, and a sufficient number of states ratified, an 
amendment to the Constitution—the eleventh—which 
provides that the judicial power must not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens 
of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any 
foreign states. 

Personal Rights. No person can be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or limb, or be compelled to be a witness 
against himself, or be deprived of life, liberty, or prop¬ 
erty, without due process of law. In all criminal trials, 
the person accused has the right to a 'speedy and public 
trial by an impartial jury of the state and district in 
which the crime has been committed. He must be 
informed of the nature and cause of the charge against 
turn, and be allowed to meet the witnesses against him 
face to face. He must also have process to compel wit¬ 
nesses to appear in his favor, and the assistance of coun- 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


185 


sel for his defense. The Constitution further provides 
that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
inflicted. 

All of these provisions were inserted in the Constitu¬ 
tion, or its amendments, in order to guard against abuses 
which had existed under the government of England. 
Formerly, in that country, men were imprisoned and put 
upon trial for crimes of which they had been previously 
acquitted. Prisoners were tortured into testifying of 
their own guilt when put upon trial for criminal offenses. 
Men were condemned to death or imprisonment without 
lawful trials, and their property was confiscated in arbi¬ 
trary and unlawful ways. There was a “due process of 
law” for all these things, but it was ignored and evaded. 
In this country the laws are generally observed by the 
people, although every person who is “lynched” is de¬ 
prived of life without due process of law. The former 
abuses in England, however, were participated in by the 
officers of the law, and not merely by mobs acting in 
defiance of the law and its officers. In England in 
former times persons accused of crime were kept impris¬ 
oned in places remote from the place of the alleged 
crime, and for long spaces of time without the privilege 
of communication with relatives, friends, or counsel. 
Even when brought into court they were often kept in 
chains, and were not allowed to testify, to be represented 
by counsel, or to cross-examine the witnesses produced 
against them. They could not compel the attendance of 
witnesses in their favor, or even call them to the stand 
if they were present, prior to 1688. 

Trial by Jury. The trial of all crimes, except in cases 
of impeachment, must be by jury. The trial must be held 
in the state where the crimes have been committed, or. 


186 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


when not committed within any state, the trial must be 
at such place as Congress has, by law, directed. 

In suits of common law, in cases where the amount 
in dispute is more than twenty dollars, the right of trial 
by jury must be preserved. 

In England a man now has a right to be tried by a 
jury of his peers—that is, by persons of equal rank. In 
this country, there being no nobility, the right of a man 
to “the judgment of his peers” means a trial by an impar¬ 
tial jury. The verdict of the jury must be unanimous 
in order to convict.” 

Treason. Treason against the United States consists 
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their 
enemies—giving them aid and comfort. No person can 
sbe convicted of treason except on the testimony of two 
witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
court. A private confession has no effect. 

Congress has power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason can work corruption 
of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the 
person attainted. 

In England, for punishment of treason, besides the 
cruel death which was inflicted, there was an attainder 
or stain, which had the effect not only of forfeiting the 
property of the person convicted to the state, but of pre¬ 
venting his children from inheriting property through 
him. Such an attainder is prohibited in this country. 

Aaron Burr, tried for treason in 1807, was acquitted. 

Indictment by Grand Jury. Before a person can be 
brought to trial for offenses against the United States 
he must be indicted by a grand jury, except in cases 
which arise in the army and navy, or in the militia when 
in actual service in time of war or public danger. 

Instead of the indictment, the grand jury may make 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


187 


a presentment, which is a charge made by them from 
their own knowledge, or from evidence before them, 
without the formal accusation drawn up by the prose¬ 
cuting attorney. 

Judges. All federal judges are appointed by the 
President, with the consent of the Senate, and hold 
office during good behavior. They can be removed from 
office only by impeachment. 

Any judge of any court of the United States who has 
held the office for ten years, and has attained to the age 
of seventy years, may resign his office, and yet receive- 
the same salary during life that was paid to him at the 
time of his resignation. 

The compensation of federal judges cannot be dimin¬ 
ished during their continuance in office. 

The fact that they hold office during good behavior 
makes the judges independent of the President and the 
Senate who appoint them, and the fact that Congress 
cannot punish the judges indirectly, by reducing their 
salaries, in case they should declare a law unconstitu¬ 
tional, or otherwise render a decision which might dis¬ 
please the members of that body, has a similar effect 
on the relations of the judges and Congress. 

In case a judge should become incapacitated from 
either mental or physical infirmities, he could be removed 
only by impeachment. But with the foregoing provision 
for their retirement by resignation upon full salary after 
they shall have served ten years and shall have attained 
the age of seventy years, no difficulty arising from 
infirmity is very likely to occur. 

SUPREME COURT 

Jurisdiction. The United States Supreme Court has 


188 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


original jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a 
state shall be a party. In all other cases mentioned 
under the head of Judicial Power (except where excep¬ 
tions have been made by Congress), it has appellate 
jurisdiction. 

A case arising in state courts under state laws can be 
carried to the Supreme Court of the United States when 
it involves the question as to whether or not a state law 
involved in the case is contrary to the Constitution of 
the United States. Many more state laws have been 
declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional 
than laws enacted by Congress. 

Judges. There are nine judges of the United States 
Supreme Court—a Chief Justice and eight Associate 
Justices. 

Salaries. The judges of the United States Supreme 
Court receive $14,500—except the Chief Justice, who 
receives $15,000 a year. 

CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEAL 

Jurisdiction. These courts, which were created by an 
act of Congress in 1891, have appellate jurisdiction only. 
They can review, on appeal or writ of error, the final 
judgments or decrees of the United States District 
Courts in all cases other than those which are directly 
reviewable b^ the Supreme Court, and their decisions 
are final in many instances. They were created to 
relieve the crowded condition of the docket of the 
Supreme Court, which was said to be about three years 
in arrears at that time. 

Judges. There is a circuit court of appeals in each of 
the nine circuits into which the United States is divided, 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


189 


each court consisting of three judges, two of whom con¬ 
stitute a quorum. No judges, however, are appointed for 
these courts, but the justices of the Supreme Court, the 
circuit judges, and the several district judges are compe¬ 
tent to sit as judges of the circuit courts of appeals 
within their respective circuits. The district judges 
do not sit, however, except in the absence of one of 
the other judges. The sessions of this court for the 
Seventh Circuit, in which Illinois is located, are held 
at Chicago. 

Judicial Circuits. The United States is divided into 
nine judicial districts. From two to four circuit judges 
are appointed in each circuit. Since January 1, 1912, 
they do not hold circuit courts as formerly, but sit as 
judges in the federal circuit court of appeals and in the 
new commerce court. The nine judges of the United 
States Supreme Court apportion the nine circuits among 
themselves. They may also sit as judges in the court 
of appeals. 

Each circuit judge receives $7,000 a year. 

DISTRICT COURTS 

Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of district courts ex¬ 
tends to the trial of all crimes committed within the 
district, against the United States. In civil cases the 
jurisdiction of the district courts is general. 

Judges. The United States is divided into about 
eighty-seven districts for the purpose of holding district 
courts.. The number of district judges does not corre¬ 
spond to the number of districts, as, in some cases, 
several judges serve in the same district, while in a few 
cases, one judge is appointed for two or more districts. 

Salaries. District judges receive $7,500 a year each. 


190 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


COURT OF CLAIMS 

Jurisdiction. For a sovereign state or nation to be 
;sued would be a contradiction of the idea of enlightened 
sovereignty. For if it could be sued in the courts of 
another state or nation, it would not be sovereign, and if 
in its own courts, that would imply that it was unwilling 
do do justice without coercion. The suitor would be 
asking a sovereign power to coerce itself. 

Formerly claims against the United States were pre¬ 
sented to the respective executive departments, and if 
they could not be adjusted there, application for relief 
•could only be made to Congress, which had no adequate 
means of determining the matter. The delays incident 
to this procedure often’ amounted to a complete denial of 
justice. For this reason a court of claims was created 
by Congress and is now given power to adjudicate all 
classes of claims against the United States, except pen¬ 
sions. Congress appropriates money to pay the claims 
allowed. 

Judges. The court has five judges. The chief justice 
receives $8,000 a year and each of the associate justices, 
$7,500 a year. 


Miscellaneous 

RIGHTS OF THE STATES 

Representation. Each state is entitled to at least one 
Representative in the House of Representatives, and no 
amendment to the Constitution can be made which will 
deprive any state, without its consent, of its equal suf¬ 
frage in the Senate. 

Citizenship. The citizens in each state are entitled to 
all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the sev- 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


191 


eral states. A state is not bound to confer upon a person 
coming into it all the rights and privileges which he 
might enjoy in some other state, 6ut only such as it 
gives to its own citizens. Thus a man who cannot read 
loses the right to vote by moving from Illinois to such a 
state as Massachusetts or Connecticut, where inability 
to read is a bar to voting. 

Protection. The United States guarantees to every 
state a republican form of government, and protects it 
from invasion and domestic violence on the application 
of the legislature of the state, or the Governor when the 
legislature cannot be convened. 

Requisitions. If a person charged in any state with 
treason, felony, or other infamous crime, flees from justice 
and is found in another state, he must, on the demand of 
the Governor of the state from which he fled, be delivered 
up, to be removed to the state which has jurisdiction of 
the crime. The writ issued by the Governor of a state 
demanding or requesting of the Governor of another 
state the surrender of a person accused of a crime com¬ 
mitted in the former state is called a “requisition,” and 
the person wanted is called a “fugitive from justice.” 
The whole procedure of removing a person from one 
state to another for trial by requisition is called 
“extradition.” 

The United States has treaties with almost all other 
nations and countries whereby persons accused of crime 
are delivered up for trial by means of extradition. 

Rights Reserved. The powers not delegated to the 
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it 
to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people, 
and the enumeration of certain rights must not be con¬ 
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 


192 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


LIMITATIONS ON THE STATES 

Alliances Prohibited. No state can enter into any 
treaty, alliance, or confederation, or enter into any agree¬ 
ment or compact with another state, or with a foreign 
power, without the consent of Congress. The national 
government could not exist if the several states could 
enter into treaties or alliances with foreign states—in 
fact, the United States would not then be recognized as 
a nation having sovereign power. 

Money. No state can coin money, emit bills of credit, 
make anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in 
payment of debt, or pass any law impairing the obliga¬ 
tions of contracts. 

For a state to emit bills of credit would be for it to 
issue paper pledging its faith for the payment, and de¬ 
signing such paper to circulate as money. 

Any kind of money is legal tender when a debtor can 
compel his creditor to accept such money in satisfaction 
of a debt. Congress has made paper money a legal 
tender, but the states cannot do this. If they could, it 
would result in so many different kinds of money as to 
cause endless confusion. 

War. No state can grant letters of marque and re¬ 
prisal. Neither can it, without the consent of Congress, 
keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, nor engage 
in war unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay. This does not prevent 
the states from maintaining militia. The second amend¬ 
ment to the Constitution states that “A well-regulated 
militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the 
right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed.” 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


193 


Duties. No state can, without the consent of Con- v 
gress, lay any duty of tonnage, or any duties on exports 
or imports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing the inspection laws. The net proceeds of all 
such duties are held for the use of the Treasurer of the 
United States. 

If the states on the seacoast could levy duties for the 
purposes of revenue, it would be a constant source of 
confusion, jealousy, and strife, not only among such 
states, but between them and all others not so situated. 

Civil and Personal Rights. All persons born or natu¬ 
ralized in the United States, and subject to their juris¬ 
diction, are citizens of the United States and of the states 
in which they reside, and no state can make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities 
of citizens of the United States. No state can deprive 
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law, or deny to any person within its jurisdic¬ 
tion the equal protection of the laws. 

No state can pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto 
law. 

Title of Nobility. No state can grant any title of 
nobility. 

Illegal Debts. A state cannot assume or pay any 
debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or 
rebellion against the United States, or for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Admission of States. Congress may admit new states 
into the Union, but no new state can be formed within 
the jurisdiction of any other state, or by the junction 
of two or more states, without the consent of the legis¬ 
latures of the states concerned, as well as of Congress. 


194 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Amendments to the Constitution. Whenever two- 
thirds of both houses may deem it necessary, Congress 
must propose amendments to the Constitution; or, on 
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states, 
must call a convention for proposing amendments. 
Amendments proposed in either of these ways are valid 
to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution 
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 
states, or by conventions in three-fourths of the states, 
as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro¬ 
posed by Congress. But no amendment can be made 
which will deprive any state, without its consent, of its 
equal sufifrage in the Senate. 

Nineteen amendments to the Constitution have been 
adopted. The first ten were proposed by the First Con¬ 
gress, and were ratified in 1791. Taken together, they 
constitute what is called a “Bill of Rights.” 

The eleventh amendment limits the jurisdiction of 
the national judiciary. The twelfth changes the mode 
of electing the President and Vice-President. The thir¬ 
teenth amendment abolishes slavery in the United States. 
The fourteenth declares the emancipated slaves to be 
citizens, invests them with full civil rights, prescribes 
the manner of apportioning the Representatives among 
the states, places a political disability upon all persons 
who, having sworn to support the Constitution, after¬ 
ward engaged in rebellion against the United States, and 
provides that such disability may be removed by a two- 
thirds vote in both houses of Congress. The fifteenth 
provides that the right of citizens of the United States 
to vote cannot be denied or abridged on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. The sixteenth 
amendment provides that Congress shall have power to 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


195 


lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source 
derived, without apportionment among the several states, 
and without regard to any census or enumeration. The 
seventeenth amendment provides for the election of 
United States Senators directly by the people. The 
eighteenth amendment prohibits the manufacture, sale 
and transportation of intoxicating liquors. The nine¬ 
teenth amendment confers upon women equal suffrage 
with men. 

Supreme Law. The Constitution of the United 
States, the laws made in pursuance of its provisions, and 
all treaties made under the authority of the United 
States, constitute the supreme law of the land. The 
judges in every state are bound by these, notwithstand¬ 
ing anything which may be in the Constitution or laws 
of any state. 

Personal Rights. No soldier can, in time of peace, 
be quartered in any house without the consent of the 
owner, or in time of war, except in the manner provided 
by law. 

The people have the right to be secure in their per¬ 
sons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable 
searches and seizures. Warrants cannot be issued except 
on probable cause, supported by oath (or affirmation), 
and particularly describing the place to be searched, and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

Slavery. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime of which the person is 
duly convicted, can exist within the limits of the United 
States, or in any place subject to its jurisdiction. 

Public Debt. The validity of the public debt of the 
United States, authorized by law, including debts in¬ 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties for service 
in suppressing insurrection and rebellion, cannot be 


196 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


questioned. The United States cannot assume or pay 
any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or 
rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the 
loss or emancipation of any slave. 

The Council of National Defense 

Congress, 1916, in the Army appropriation bill, 
created the National Council of Defense and its Advisory 
Commission. It consists of six members of the Presi¬ 
dent’s Cabinet; the Secretary of War who is its president, 
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of Agriculture, Secre¬ 
tary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Labor. This 
council is not charged with the duty of laying down a 
policy of National defense so much as of discovering 
what our resources are and determining how they may 
be most effectively employed. 

This council was directed by Congress to nominate 
to the President an advisory council of seven persons, 
“each of whom shall have special knowledge of some 
industry, public utility, or the development of some 
natural resource, or be otherwise specially qualified.” 

For this Advisory Commission have been selected the 
president of a great railway system, the president of the 
American Federation of Labor, the vice-president of a 
great retail mercantile company, a member of a great 
banking firm and the president of Drexel Institute. 

DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL 

In the language of President Wilson, “One of the 
objects of the council will be to inform American manu¬ 
facturers as to the part they can and must play in national 
emergency. It is empowered to establish at once and 
maintain through subordinate bodies of specially qualified 


NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


197 


persons an auxiliary composed of men of the best creative 
and administrative capacity, capable of mobilizing to the 
utmost the resources of the country. 


Questions and Topics for Study 

i. In studying the national government, compare and contrast 
it with the state government at every point. 2 . (a) When 
were the Articles of Confederation adopted by Congress? (b) 
When ratified by the states? (c) Give at least three marked 
defects. 3 . (a) When and by whom was the Constitution of 
the United States prepared and adopted? (b) When ratified 
by the states? 

4 . (a) State the qualifications of Representatives, (b) Of 
Senators. 5 . How many Representatives has Illinois? 6 . (a) 
In what congressional district do you live? (b) Who is the 
Representative from that district? (c) When was he elected? 
7 . (a) Who are the present Senators from Illinois? (b) When 
elected ? 

8 . Fully describe the election of a President of the United 
States, giving particulars concerning electors and the electoral 
vote. 9 . What are the qualifications of the President? 10 . 
(a) Who is now President? (b) When elected? n. Name 
the present cabinet officers. 12 . (a) To what political party 
does the President belong? (b) What political party at pres¬ 
ent controls the Senate? (c) The House of Representatives? 

13 . State the different ways in which a bill having passed 
both houses of Congress, may become a law. 14 . State several 
of the important powers of Congress expressed in the Constitu¬ 
tion. 15 . Explain what you understand by expressed powers 
and implied powers. 16 . (a) Give an illustration of congres¬ 
sional legislation not directly authorized by an expressed provi¬ 
sion in the Constitution, (b) How about the recent provision 
for a system of reserve banks ? 


198 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


17. (a) How can the Constitution of the United States be 
amended? (b) What one exception to this provision? 18. 
What amendments to our Constitution are often referred to as 
our “Bill of Rights”? 19. State the subject of each of the 
amendments from the eleventh to the seventeenth, inclusive. 
20. Copy and complete this table and preserve for future ref¬ 
erence : 


OFFICE 

BY WHOM 
ELECTED OR 
APPOINTFD 

LENGTH 
OF TERM 

DUTIES 

PRESENT 

INCUMBENT 

President 





Vice-President 





Sec. of State 





Sec. of Treasury 





Sec. of War 





Sec. of Navy 





Sec. of Interior 





Post Master-Gen. 





Attorney-General 





Sec. of Agriculture 





Sec. of Commerce 





Sec. of Labor 





Chief Justice 





Spkr. of the House 





Senators from Ill. 





Member of Cong. 
From your district 

















































APPENDIX 


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CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 


PREAMBLE 

We; the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide 
for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure 
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and 
establish this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

THE LEGISLATIVE POWER 

SECTION i. All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a 
Senate and House of Representatives. 

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEC. 2 . The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several 
states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state 
legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that state in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several states which may be included within this Union, according 
to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to serv¬ 
ice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 

200 


APPENDIX 


201 


United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in 
such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Repre¬ 
sentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each 
state shall have at least one Representative; and, until such enumera¬ 
tion shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, 
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North 
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the 
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and 
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

THE SENATE 

SEC. 3 . The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated 
at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the ex¬ 
piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration 
of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year; and if the vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, dur¬ 
ing the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof 
may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the 
legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
state for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they shall be equally 
divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and shall have a 
president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or 
when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 


202 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice 
shall preside; and no person shall Be convicted without the concur¬ 
rence of two-thirds of the members present 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the 
party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, 
trial, judgment and punishment according to law. 

MANNER OF ELECTING MEMBERS 

SEC. 4 . The times, places, and manner of holding elections 
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state 
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by 
law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choos¬ 
ing Senators. 

CONGRESS TO ASSEMBLE ANNUALLY 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by law appoint a different day. 

POWERS 

SEC. 5 . Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns 
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall 
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties, as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their 
judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members 
of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 


APPENDIX 


203 


COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS 

SEC. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a com¬ 
pensation, for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, 
except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective 
houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

No Senator y or Representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority 
of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emolu¬ 
ments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no 
person holding any office under the United States, shall be a mem¬ 
ber of either house during his continuance in office. 

MANNER OF PASSING BILLS 

SEC. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the 
President of the United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, but 
if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which 
it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on 
their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsid¬ 
eration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall 
be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which 
it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of 
that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names 
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall 
have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner 
as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment 
prevents its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of 
the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 


204 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by 
two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according 
to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

POWER OF CONGRESS 

SEC. 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, 
duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all 
duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
States; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the sev¬ 
eral states, and with the Indian tribes; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States; 

To establish post offices and post roads; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to 
their respective writings and discoveries; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water; 

to raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to 
that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

To provide and maintain a navy; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the 
service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the 
appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia 
according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over 


APPENDIX 


205 


such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession 
of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature 
of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry¬ 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, 
or in any department or officer thereof. 

LIMITATION OF THE POWER OF CONGRESS 

SEC. 9 . The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im¬ 
portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro¬ 
portion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be 
taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce of 
revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay 
duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be pub¬ 
lished from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and 
no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, 
without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu¬ 
ment, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or 
foreign state. 

LIMITATIONS OF THE POWERS OF THE INDIVIDUAL STATES 

SEC. 10 . No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 


206 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


federation; grant letters of marque or reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in 
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts or grant any title of 
nobility. 

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im¬ 
posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be abso¬ 
lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net pro¬ 
duce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or 
exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into 
any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign 
power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi¬ 
nent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II 

EXECUTIVE POWER 

SECTION i. The executive power shall be vested in a Presi¬ 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his office 
during the term of four years, and together with the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 

MANNER OF ELECTING 

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole num¬ 
ber of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be 
entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representatives, or 
person ^holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, 
shall be appointed an elector. 

(The following provisions were changed by the 12 th amend¬ 
ment.) 

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabit¬ 
ant of the same state as themselves. And they shall make a list of 
all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; 
which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the 
*eat of the government of the United States, directed to the presi- 


i 


APPENDIX 


207 


dent of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having 
the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if 
there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal 
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall imme¬ 
diately chose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person 
have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said 
House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing 
the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation 
from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall 
consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, 
and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In 
every case, after the choice of the President, the person having 
the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. But if there should remain two or more who have equal 
votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the Vice- 
President. 

TIME OF CHOOSING ELECTORS 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

WHO ELIGIBLE 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person 
be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the 
United States. 

WHEN THE PRESIDENT’S POWER DEVOLVES ON THE VICE-PRESIDENT 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and 
the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, 
resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, 
declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer 


208 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


shall act accordingly until the disability be removed, or a President 
shall be elected. 

president's compensation 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that period any other emolument from the United 
States, or any of them. 

OATH 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear .(or affirm) 
that I will faithfully execute the' office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and de¬ 
fend the Constitution of the United States” 

POWERS AND DUTIES 

SEC. 2 . The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of. the 
several states when called into the actual service of the United 
States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal 
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relat¬ 
ing to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public min¬ 
isters and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other 
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but 
the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of 
law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

SEC. 3 . He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress 
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expe- 


APPENDIX 


209 


dient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses 
or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 
time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors ancf 
other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

OFFICERS REMOVED 

SEC 4 . The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office, on impeachment for, 
and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde¬ 
meanors. 

ARTICLE III 

THE JUDICIARY 

SECTION i. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, 
both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices 
during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their 
continuance in office. 

(The following provision was altered by the nth Amendment.) 

SEC. 2 . The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, to 
controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to con¬ 
troversies between two or more states, between a state and citizens 
of another state; between citizens of different states; between citi¬ 
zens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different 
states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign 
states, citizens or subjects. 

JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme 
court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases be¬ 
fore mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction 
both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regu¬ 
lations as the Congress shall make. 


210 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


TRIALS FOR CRIMES 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state- where the said 
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within 
any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

TREASON 

SEC. 3 . Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, 
or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

STATE ACTS 

SECTION i. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state 
to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other 
state. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the 
manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof. 

1 

PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENS 

SEC. 2 . The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all priv¬ 
ileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, 
shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which 
he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdic¬ 
tion of the crime. 

RUNAWAYS TO BE DELIVERED UP 

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation thereof, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered upon claim of the party to whom such service or 
labor may be due. 


APPENDIX 


211 


NEW STATES 

SEC. 3 . New states may be admitted by the Congress into this 
union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the 
junction of two or more- states, or parts of states, without the 
consent of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. 

TERRITORIAL AND OTHER PROPERTY 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all need¬ 
ful rules and regulations respecting the territory, or this property 
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, 
or of any particular state. 

SEC. 4 . The United States shall guarantee to every state in 
this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each 
of them against invasion; and, on application of the legislature, or 
of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against 
domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V 

AMENDMENTS 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on 
the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in 
either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of 
this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of 
the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress; 
Provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to the year 
one thousarid eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect 
the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; 
and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

DEBTS 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 


212 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall 
be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the su¬ 
preme law of.the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound 
thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

OATH—NO RELIGIOUS TEST 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, 
shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; 
but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any 
office, or public trust, under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The ratifications of the conventions of nine states shall be suffi¬ 
cient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states 
so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the states pres¬ 
ent, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of 
the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. 
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President and Deputy from Virginia. 

New Hampshire —John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. Massachu¬ 
setts —Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. Connecticut —William 
Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. New York —Alexander Hamilton. 
New Jersey —William Livingston, David Brearley, William Patter¬ 
son, Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania —Benjamin Franklin, Thomas 
Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clyfner, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared 
Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. Delaware —George 
Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob 
Broom. Maryland —James M’Henry, Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. Virginia —John Blair, James Madison, Jr. North 
Carolina —William Blount, Richard Spaight, Hugh Williamson. 
South Carolina —John Rutledge, C. Coatesworth Pinckney, Charles 
Pinckney, Pierce Butler. Georgia —William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary . 


APPENDIX 


213 


AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 

[The first ten amendments were proposed by Congress at their 
first session, in 1789, and ratified by the states in 1791.] 

I 

FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re¬ 
ligion, or prohibiting a free exercise thereof; or abridging the free¬ 
dom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably 
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of griev¬ 
ances. 

II 

RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in¬ 
fringed. 

III 

QUARTERING OF SOLDIERS 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

IV 

UNREASONABLE SEARCHES PROHIBITED 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

V 

CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise in¬ 
famous crime, unless on a presentation or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor 


214 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


shall any person be subject for the same offense to be put twice in 
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal 
case, to be a witness against himself; nor ,be deprived of fife, liberty 
or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation. 

VI 

MODE OF TRIAL 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and dis¬ 
trict wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed 
of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his 
defense. 

VII 

RIGHT OF TRIAL BY JURY 

In suits of common law, where the value in controversy shall ex¬ 
ceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; 
and no fact tried by jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
court of the United States than according to the rules of the com¬ 
mon law. 

VIII 

BAIL AND FINES 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

IX 

RIGHTS NOT ENUMERATED 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

\ 

X 

POWERS RESERVED 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti¬ 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states 
respectively or to the people. 


APPENDIX 


215 


XI 

[Ratified in 1798] 

LIMITATION OF JUDICIAL POWERS 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law of equity commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or 
by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 


XII 

[Ratified in 1804] 

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT 

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in dis¬ 
tinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all 
persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for 
each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the 
president of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having 
the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap¬ 
pointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the 
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing 
the President, the vote shall be taken by states, the representation 
from each state having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall 
consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states and 
a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if 
the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them' before the fourth- 
day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of death or other constitutional disability 
of the President. 


216 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-Presi¬ 
dent shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have 
a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
Senate shall choose the Vice-President. A quorum for that purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and 
a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President 
shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

XIII 

[Ratified in 1865] 

SLAVERY 

SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject 
to their jurisdiction. 

SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

XIV 

[Ratified in 1868] 

CITIZENSHIP 

SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States, and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and 
immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any state 
deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process 
of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws. 

SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed; but 
whenever the right to vote at any election of electors for President 
and Vice-President of the United States, Representative in Con¬ 
gress, executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of 
the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of 
such state, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion 


APPENDIX 


21? 


or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced 
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear 
to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in 
that state. 

SEC. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in 
Congress, elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, 
who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or 
as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state 
legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to 
support the Constituton of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort 
to the enemies thereof; but Congress may by a vote of two-thirds 
of each House, remove such disability. 

SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payment of 
pensions and bounties for service in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the United States nor 
any state shall assume to pay any debt or obligation incurred in 
aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be illegal and void. 

SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appro¬ 
priate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

XV 

[Ratified in 1870] 

RIGHT TO VOTE 

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state, 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

XVI 

[Ratified in 1913] 

INCOME TAX 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on in¬ 
comes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among 
the several states, and without regard to- any census or enumeration. 


218 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


XVII 

[Ratified in 1913] 

DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS 

SECTION 1. The Senate of the United States shall be com¬ 
posed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof 
Lor six years, and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors 
in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures. 

SEC. 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any 
state in the Senate the executive authority of such state shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legisla¬ 
ture of any state may empower the execeutive thereof to make tem¬ 
porary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election 
as the legislature may direct. 

SEC. 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect 
the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid 
as part of the Constitution. 

XVIII 

[Ratified by three-fourths of the states, January 16, 1919. 

Effective on and after January 16, 1920] 

PROHIBITION 

SECTION 1. After one year from the ratification of this article 
the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors 
within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from 
the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof 
for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. 

SEC. 2. The Congress and the several states shall have 
concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

SEC. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislature of the 
several states, as provided by the Constitution, within seven years 
from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress. 

XIX 

[Ratified in 1920 ] 

WOMAN SUFFRAGE 

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state 
on account of sex. 

SEC. 2. Congress shall have power by appropriate legislation 
to enforce the provisions of this article. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 


Adopted in Convention at Springfield, May 13, A. D. 1870. 


Ratified July 2, 1870; in force August 8, 1870; amended 1878, i88o> 
1884, 1886, 1890, 1904 and 1908. 


PREAMBLE 

We, the people of the State of Illinois—grateful to Almighty 
God for the civil, political, and religious liberty which He hath so- 
long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon* 
our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to suc¬ 
ceeding generations—in order to form a more perfect government,, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com¬ 
mon defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the State of Illinois. 

ARTICLE I 

BOUNDARIES 

The boundaries and jurisdiction of the state shall be as fol¬ 
lows, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash River; thence 
up the same, and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner 
of said state; thence east, with the line of the same state, to the 
middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said 
lake, to north latitude forty-two degrees and thirty minutes; 
thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River, and thence 
down along, the middle of that river to its confluence with the 
Ohio River, and thence up the latter river along its northwestern 

?19 





220 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


shore, to the place of beginning: Provided, that this state shall 
exercise such jurisdiction upon the Ohio River, as she is now 
entitled to, or such as may hereafter be agreed upon by this state 
and the State of Kentucky. 

ARTICLE II 

BILL OF RIGHTS 

SECTION i. All men are by nature free and independent, and 
have certain inherent and inalienable rights—among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and 
the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

SEC. 2. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law. 

SEC. 3. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profes¬ 
sion and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be guar¬ 
anteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, 
privilege, or capacity.on account of his religious opinions; but the 
liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dis¬ 
pense with oaths or affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or 
justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the state. 
No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or 
place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be 
given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. 

SEC. 4. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on 
all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in 
all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when pub¬ 
lished with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a suffi¬ 
cient defense. 

SEC. 5. The right of trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed, shall 
remain inviolate; but the trial of civil cases before justices of the 
peace, by a jury of less than twelve men, may be authorized by law. 

SEC. 6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seiz¬ 
ures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue without 
probable cause, supported by affidavit, particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons and things to be seized. 

SEC. 7. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, ex¬ 
cept for capital offenses, where the proof is evident or the pre¬ 
sumption great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 


APPENDIX v 221 

not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety may require it. 

SEC. 8. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal 
offense unless on indictment of a grand jury, except in cases in 
which the punishment is by fine, or imprisonment otherwise than in 
the penitentiary, in cases of impeachment, and in cases arising in the 
army and navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of 
war or public danger: Provided, that the grand j ury may be 
abolished by law in all cases. 

SEC. 9. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have 
the right to appear and defend in person and by counsel; to demand 
the nature and cause of the accusation, and to have a copy thereof; 
to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have process to compel 
the -attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial 
by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense 
is alleged to have been committed. 

SEC. 10. No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to 
give evidence against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the 
same offense. 

SEC. 11. All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of 
the offense; and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or 
forfeiture of estate; nor shall any person be transported out of the 
state for any offense committed within the same. 

SEC. 12. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, unless upon 
refusal to deliver up his estate for the benefit of his creditors, in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law; or in cases where there 
is strong presumption of fraud. 

SEC. 13. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for 
public use without just compensation. Such compensation, when 
not made by the state, shall be ascertained by a jury, as shall be 
prescribed by law. The fee of land taken for railroad tracks, with¬ 
out consent of the owners thereof, shall remain in such owners, 
subject to the use for which it is taken. 

SEC. 14. No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obliga¬ 
tion of contracts, or making any irrevocable grant of special priv¬ 
ileges or immunities, shall be passed. 

SEC. 15. The military shall be in strict subordination to the 
civil power. 

SEC. 16. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war 
except in the manner prescribed by law. 


322 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


SEC. 17. The people have the right to assemble in a peaceable 
manner to consult for the common good, to make known their 
opinions to their representatives, and to apply for redress of 
grievances. 

SEC. 18. All elections shall be free and equal. 

SEC. 19. Every person ought to find a certain remedy in the 
laws for all injuries and wrongs which he may receive in his per¬ 
son, property or reputation; he ought to obtain, by law, right and 
justice freely and without being obliged to purchase it, completely 
and without denial, promptly and without delay. 

SEC. 20. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles 
.of civil government is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings 
of liberty. 

ARTICLE III 

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS 

The powers of the government of this state are divided into 
rthree distinct departments—the legislative, executive, and judicial; 
and no person, or collection of persons, being one of these depart¬ 
ments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of 
the others, except as hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. 

ARTICLE IV 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

SECTION I. The legislative power shall be vested in a Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, both to be elected by the people. 

ELECTION 

SEC. 2. An election for members of the General Assembly 
:shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in Novem¬ 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sev¬ 
enty, and every two years thereafter, in each county, at such places 
therein as may be provided by law. When vacancies occur in either 
fiouse, the Governor, or person exercising the powers of Governor, 
: shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancy. 

ELIGIBILITY AND OATH 

SEC. 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
attained the age of twenty-five years, or a Representative who 
shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years. No person 


APPENDIX 


223 


shall be a Senator or Representative who shall not be a citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not have been for five years a 
resident of this state, and for two years next preceding his election 
a resident within the territory forming the district from which he 
is elected. No judge or clerk of any court, Secretary of State, 
Attorney General, State’s Attorney, Recorder, Sheriff, or collector 
of public revenue, member of either house of Congress, or person 
holding any lucrative office under the United States or this state, or 
any foreign government, shall have a seat in the General Assembly: 
Provided, that appointments in the militia, and the offices of notary 
public and justice of the peace, shall not be considered lucrative. 
Nor shall any person holding any office of honor or profit under 
any foreign government, or under the government of the United 
States (except postmasters whose annual compensation does not 
exceed the sum of three hundred dollars), hold any office of honor 
or profit under the authority of this state. 

SEC. 4. No person who has been, or hereafter shall be con¬ 
victed of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, nor any person 
who has been or may be a collector or holder of public moneys, who 
shall not have accounted for and paid over, according to law, all 
such moneys due from him, shall be eligible to the General Assem¬ 
bly, or to any office of profit or trust in this state. 

SEC. 5. Members of the General Assembly, before they enter 
upon their official duties, shall take and subscribe the following 
oath or affirmation: 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution 
of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and will 
faithfully discharge the duties of Senator (or Representative) according to 
the best of my ability; and that I have not knowingly or intentionally paid 
or contributed anything, or made any promise in the nature of a bribe, to 
directly or indirectly influence any vote at the election at which I was 
chosen to fill the said office, and have not accepted, nor will I accept or 
receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing, from 
any corporation, company or person, for any vote or influence I may give 
or withhold on'any bill, resolution, or appropriation, or for any other 
official act.” 

This oath shall be administered by a judge of the supreme or 
circuit court in the hall of the house to which the member is elected, 
and the Secretary of State shall record and file the oath subscribed 
by each member. Any member who shall refuse to take the oath 
herein prescribed shall forfeit his office, and every member who 
shall be convicted of having sworn falsely to, or of violating his 


224 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


said oath, shall forfeit his office and be disqualified thereafter from 
holding any office of profit or trust in this state. 

APPORTION MENT—SENATORIAL 

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall apportion the state every 
ten years, beginning with the year one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-one, by dividing the population of the state, as ascertained 
by the federal census, by the number fifty-one, and the quotient 
shall be the ratio of representation in the senate. The state shall 
be divided into fifty-one senatorial districts, each of which shall 
elect one Senator, whose term of office shall be four years. The 
Senators elected in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and seventy-two, in districts bearing odd numbers, shall vacate 
their offices at the end of two years, and those elected in districts 
bearing even numbers, at the end of four years; and vacancies 
occurring by the expiration of term shall be filled by the election 
of Senators for the full term. Senatorial districts shall be formed 
of contiguous and compact territory, bounded by county lines, and 
contain as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants; # 
but no district shall contain less than four-fifths of the senatorial 
ratio. Counties containing not less than the ratio and three-fourths, 
may be divided into evparate districts, and shall be entitled to two 
Senators, and to one additional Senator for each number of inhab- 
- itants equal to the ratio contained by such counties in excess of 
twice the number of said ratio. 

Note. By the adoption of minority representation, Sections 7 and 8 of 
this article cease to be a part of the Constitution. Under Section 12 of the 
schedule, and the vote of adoption, the following section relating to 
minority representation is substituted for said sections: 

MINORITY REPRESENTATION 

SECS. 7 and 8. The House of Representatives shall consist 
of three times the number of the members of the Senate, and the 
term of office shall be two years. Three Representatives shall be 
elected in each senatorial district at the general election in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and 
every two years thereafter. In all elections of Representatives 
aforesaid, each qualified voter may cast as many votes for one can¬ 
didate as there are Representatives to be elected, or may distribute 
the same, or equal parts thereof, among the candidates, as he shall 
see fit; and the carididates highest in votes shall be declared elected. 


APPENDIX 


225 


TIME OF MEETING AND GENERAL RULES 

SEC 9. The sessions of the General Assembly shall commence 
at twelve o’clock noon, on the Wednesday next after the first Mon¬ 
day in January, in the year next ensuing the election of members 
thereof, and at no other time, unless as provided by this Constitu¬ 
tion. A majority of the members elected to each house shall con¬ 
stitute a quorum. Each house shall determine the rules of its pro¬ 
ceedings, and be the judge of the election, returns, and qualifica¬ 
tions of its members; shall choose its own officers,-and the Senate 
shall choose a temporary president to preside when the Lieutenant 
Governor shall not attend as president, or shall^ act as Governor. 
The Secretary of State shall call the House of Representatives to 
order at the opening of each new assembly, and preside over it until 
a temporary presiding officer thereof shall have been chosen and 
shall have taken his seat. No member shall be expelled by either 
house, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to 
that house, and no member shall be twice expelled for the same 
offense. Each house may punish by imprisonment any person, not a 
member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house by disorderly 
or contemptuous behavior in its presence. But no such imprison¬ 
ment shall extend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless 
the person shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous behavior. 

SEC. 10. The door of each house and of committees of the 
whole shall be kept open, except in such cases as, in the opinion 
of the house, require secrecy. Neither house shall, without the con¬ 
sent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, or to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. Each 
house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be pub¬ 
lished. In the Senate, at the request of two members, and in the 
Souse at the request of five members, the yeas and nays shall be 
taken on any question, and entered upon the journal. Any two 
members of either house shall have liberty to dissent from and 
protest, in respectful language, against any act or resolution which 
they think injurious to the public or to any individual, and have 
the reasons of their dissent entered upon the journals. 

S STYLE OF LAWS, AND PASSAGE OF BILLS 

SEC. 11. The style of the laws of this state shall be: “Be it 
enacted by the People of the State of Illinois , represented in the 
General Assembly.” 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


226 

SEC. 12. Bills may originate in either house, but may be altered, 
amended, or rejected by the other; and on the final passage of all 
bills, the vote shall be by yeas and nays, upon each bill separately, 
and shall be entered upon the journal; and no bill shall become a 
law without the concurrence of a majority of the members elected 
to each house. 

SEC. 13. Every bill shall be read at large on three different 
days, in each house; and the bill and all amendments thereto shall 
be printed before the vote is taken on its final passage; and every 
bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speakers 
thereof. No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one 
subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. But if any sub¬ 
ject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in 
the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall 
not be so expressed; and no law shall be revived or amended by 
reference to its title only, but the law revived, or the section 
amended, shall be inserted at length in the new act. And no act 
of the General Assembly shall take effect until the first day of July 
next after its passage, unless, in case of emergency (which emer¬ 
gency shall be expressed in the preamble or body of the act) the 
General Assembly shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the mem¬ 
bers elected to each house, otherwise direct. 


PRIVILEGES AND DISABILITIES 

SEC. 14. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and 
returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either 
house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

SEC. 15. No person elected to the General Assembly shall receive 
any civil appointment within this state from the Governor, the 
Governor and Senate, or from the General Assembly, during the 
term for which he shall have been elected; and all such appoint¬ 
ments, and all votes given for any such members for any such office 
or appointment, shall be void; nor shall any member of the General 
Assembly be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract 
with the state, or any county thereof, authorized by any law passed 
during the term for which he shall have been elected, or within one 
year after the expiration thereof. 


APPENDIX 


22 '< 


PUBLIC MONEYS AND APPROPRIATIONS 

SEC. 16. The General Assembly shall make no appropriation of 
money out of the treasury in any private law. Bills making appro¬ 
priations for the pay of members and officers of the General Assem¬ 
bly, and for the salaries of the officers of the government, shall 
contain no provision on any other subject. 

SEC. 17. No money shall be drawn from the treasury except in? 
pursuance of an appropriation made by law, and on the presentation 
of a warrant issued by the auditor thereon; and no money shall be 
diverted from any appropriation made for any purpose, or taken 
from any fund whatever, either by joint or separate resolution. The 
auditor shall, within sixty days after the adjournment of each session 
of the General Assembly, prepare and publish a full statement of all 
money expended at such session, specifying the amount of each item,, 
and to whom and for what paid. 

SEC. 18. Each General Assembly shall provide for all the appro¬ 
priations necessary for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the- 
government until the expiration of the first fiscal quarter after the 
adjournment of the next regular session, the aggregate amount of 
which shall not be increased without a vote of two-thirds of the 
members elected to each house, nor exceed the amount of revenue 
authorized by law to be raised in such time; and all appropriations,, 
general or special, requiring money to be paid out of the state 
treasury, from funds belonging to the state, shall end with such 
fiscal quarter. Provided, the state may, to meet casual deficits or 
failures in revenues, contract debts, never to exceed in the aggregate- 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and moneys thus borrowed 
shall be applied to the purpose for which they were obtained, or to 
pay the debt thus created, and to no other purpose; and no other 
debt, except for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insur¬ 
rection, or defending the state in war (for payment of which the 
faith of the state shall be pledged), shall be contracted, unless the 
law authorizing the same shall, at a general election, have been sub¬ 
mitted to the people and have received a majority of the votes cast 
for members of the General Assembly at such election. The General 
Assembly shall provide for the publication of said law for three 
months, at least, before the vote of the people shall be taken upon 
the same; and provision shall be made, at the time, for the payment 
of the interest annually, as it shall acrue, by a tax levied for the- 
purpose, or from other sources of revenue; which law, providing 
for the payment of such interest by such tax, shall be irrepealable 


228 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


until such debt be paid. And, provided further, that the law levying 
the tax shall be submitted to the people with the law authorizing the 
debt to be contracted. 

SEC. 19. The General Assembly shall never grant or authorize 
extra compensation, fee, or allowance to any public officer, agent, 
servant, or contractor, after service has been rendered or a contract 
made, nor authorize the payment of any claim, or part thereof, here¬ 
after created against the state under any agreement or contract made 
without express authority of law; and all such unauthorized agree¬ 
ments or contracts made shall be null and void. Provided, the 
General Assembly may make appropriations for expenditures in¬ 
curred in suppressing insurrection or repelling invasion. 

SEC. 20. The state shall never pay, assume, or become respon¬ 
sible for the debts or liabilities of, or in any manner give, loan, or 
extend its credit to, or in aid of, any public or other corporation, 
association, or individual. 

’t’AY OF MEMBERS 

SEC. 21. The members of the General Assembly shall receive 
for their services the sum of five dollars per day, during the first 
session held under this Constitution, and ten cents for each mile 
necessarily traveled in going to, and returning from, the seat of 
government, to be computed by the auditor of public accounts; and 
thereafter such compensation as shall be prescribed by law, and no 
other allowance or emolument, directly or indirectly, for any pur¬ 
pose whatever, except the sum of fifty dollars per session to each 
member, which shall be in full for postage, stationery, newspaper, 
and all other incidental expenses and perquisites; but no change 
shall be made in the compensation of the General Assembly during 
the term for which they may have been elected. The pay and mile¬ 
age allowed to each member of the General Assembly shall be 
certified by the speakers of their respective houses, and entered on 
the journals, and published at the close of each session. 

SPECIAL LEGISLATION PROHIBITED 

SEC. 22. The'General Assembly shall not pass local or special 
laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say, for— 

Granting divorces; 

Changing the names of persons'or places; 

Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads or highways; 

Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public grounds; 


APPENDIX 


229’ 


Locating or changing county seats; 

Regulating county and township affairs; 

Regulating the.practice in courts of justice; 

Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, 
police magistrates and constables; 

Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases; 

Incorporating cities, towns, or villages; or changing or amending 
the charter of any town, city, or village; 

Providing for the election of members of the board of super¬ 
visors in townships, incorporated towns or cities; 

Summoning and impaneling grand or petit juries; 

Providing for the management of common schools; 

Regulating the rate of interest on money; 

The opening and conducting of an election, or designating the 
place of voting; 

The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others 
under disability; 

The protection of game or fish; 

Chartering or licensing ferries or toll bridges; 

Remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures; 

Creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentages or allowances 
of public officers, during the term for which said officers are elected 
or appointed; 

Changing the law of descent; 

Granting to any corporation, association or individual the right 
to lay down railroad tracks, or amending existing charters for such 
purpose; 

Granting to any corporation, association or individual any special 
or exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever. 

In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, 
no special law shall be enacted. 

SEC. 23. The General Assembly shall have no power to release 
or extinguish, in whole or in part, the indebtedness, liability, or 
obligation of any ‘corporation or individual to this state or to any 
municipal corporation therein. 

IMPEACHMENT 

SEC. 24. The House of Representatives shall have the sole 
power of impeachment; but a majority of all the members elected 
must concur therein. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; 
and when sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or 


230 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


affirmation, to do justice according to law and evidence. When the 
Governor of the state is tried, the Chief-Justice shall preside. No 
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
the Senators elected. But judgment, in such cases, shall not extend 
further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any 
office of honor, profit or trust under the government of this state. 
The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be 
liable to prosecution, trial, judgment, and punishment according to 
law. 


MISCELLANEOUS 

SEC. 25. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, that the 
fuel, stationery, and printing paper furnished for the use of the 
state, the copying, printing, binding and distributing the laws and 
journals, and all other printing ordered by the General Assembly, 
shall be let by contract to the lowest responsible bidder; but the 
General Assembly shall fix a minimum price; and no member thereof, 
or other officer of the state, shall be interested, directly or indirectly, 
in such contract. But all such contracts shall be subject to the 
approval of the Governor, and if he disapproves the same, there shall 
be a reletting of the contract, in such manner as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

SEC. 26. The State of Illinois shall never be made defendant 
in any court of law or equity. 

SEC. 27. The General Assembly shall have no power to author¬ 
ize lotteries or gift enterprises, for any purpose, and shall pass laws 
to prohibit the sale of lottery or gift enterprise tickets in this state. 

SEC. 28. No law shall be passed which shall operate to extend 
the term of any public officer after his election or appointment. 

SEC. 29. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass 
such laws as may be necessary for the protection of operative 
miners, by providing for ventilation, when the same may be re¬ 
quired, and the construction of escapement shafts or such other 
appliances as may secure safety in all coal mines, to provide for 
the enforcement of said laws by such penalties and punishments as 
•nay be deemed proper. 

SEC. 30. The General Assembly may provide for establishing 
and opening roads and cartways, connected with a public road, for 
private and public use. 

SEC. 31. The General Assembly may pass laws permitting the 
owners of land to construct drains, ditches and levees for agricul- 


APPENDIX 


231 


tural, sanitary or mining purposes, across the lands of others, and 
provide for the organization of drainage districts, and vest the cor¬ 
porate authorities thereof with power to construct and maintain 
levees, drains and ditches, and to keep in repair all drains, ditches, 
and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of this state, by 
special assessments upon the property benefited thereby. 

SEC. 32. The General Assembly shall pass liberal homestead and 
exemption laws. 

SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall not appropriate out of the 
state treasury, or expend on account of the new capitol grounds, and 
construction, completion, and furnishing of the statehouse, a sum 
exceeding, in the aggregate, three and a half millions of dollars, 
inclusive of all appropriations heretofore made, without first sub¬ 
mitting the proposition for an additional expenditure to the legal 
voters of the state, at a general election; nor unless a majority of 
all votes cast at such election shall be for the proposed additional 
expenditure. 

SEC. 34. The General Assembly shall have power, subject to 
the conditions and limitations hereinafter contained, to pass any 
law (local, special, or general) providing a scheme or charter of 
local municipal government for the territory now or hereafter 
embraced within the limits of the City of Chicago. The law or 
laws so passed may provide for consolidating (in whole or in 
part) in the municipal government of the City of Chicago, the 
powers now vested in the city, board of education, township, park 
and other local governments and authorities having jurisdiction 
confined to or within said territory, or any part thereof, and for 
the assumption by the City of Chicago of the debts and liabilities 
(in whole or in part) of the governments or corporate authorities 
whose functions within its territory shall be vested in said City of 
Chicago, and may authorize said city, in the event of its becoming 
liable for the indebtedness of two or more of the existing municipal 
"corporations lying wholly within said City of Chicago, to become 
indebted to an amount (including its existing indebtedness and 
the indebtedness of all municipal corporations lying wholly within 
the limits of said city, and said city’s proportionate share of 
the indebtedness of said county and sanitary district, which 
share -shall be determined in such manner as the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly shall prescribe) in the aggregate not exceeding 5 
per centum of the full value of the taxable property within its 
limits as ascertained by the last assessment either for state or 


232 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


municipal purposes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness 
(but no new bonded indebtedness, other than for refunding pur¬ 
poses, shall be incurred until the proposition therefor shall be 
consented to by a majority of the legal voters of said city voting 
on the question at any election, general, municipal or special; and 
may provide for the assessment of property and the levy and collec¬ 
tion of taxes within said city for corporate purposes in accordance 
with the principles of equality and uniformity prescribed by this 
Constitution; and may abolish all offices, the functions of which 
shall be otherwise provided for; and may provide for the annexa¬ 
tion of territory to or disconnection of territory from said City of 
Chicago by the consent of a majority of the legal voters (voting on 
the question at any election, general, municipal or special) of the 
said city and of a majority of the voters of such territory, voting on 
the question at any election, general, municipal, or special; and, in 
case the General Assembly shall create municipal courts in the City of 
Chicago, it may abolish the offices of justices of the peace, police 
magistrates and constables in and for the territory within said 
city, and may limit the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in the 
territory of said County of Cook outside of said city to that terri¬ 
tory, and in such case the jurisdiction and practice of said munici¬ 
pal courts shall be such as the General Assembly shall prescribe; 
and the General Assembly may pass all laws which it may deem 
requisite to effectually provide a complete system of local municipal 
government in and for the City of Chicago. 

No law based upon this amendment to the Constitution, affect¬ 
ing the municipal government of the City of Chicago, shall take 
effect until such law shall be consented to by a majority of^ the 
legal voters of said city voting on the question at any election (gen¬ 
eral, municipal, or special) ; and no local or special law based upon 
this amendment affecting specially any part of the City of Chicago 
shall take effect until consented to by a majority of the legal voters 
of such part of said city. Nothing in this section contained shall 
be construed to repeal, amend or affect section four (4) of article XI 
of the Constitution of this state. 

ARTICLE V 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 

SECTION i. The executive department shall consist of a 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of 


APPENDIX 


233 


Public Accounts, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
and Attorney-General, who shall each, with the exception of Treas¬ 
urer, hold his office for the term of four years from the second 
Monday of January next after his election, and until his successor 
is elected and qualified. They shall, except the Lieutenant-Governor, 
reside at the seat of government during the term of office, and keep 
the public records, books, and papers there, and shall perform such 
duties as may be prescribed by law. 

SEC. 2. The Treasurer shall hold his office for the term of two 
years, and until his successor is elected and qualified; and shall be 
ineligible to said office for two years next after the end of the term 
for which he was elected. He may be required by the Governor to 
give reasonable additional security, and in default of so doing his 
office shall be deemed vacant. 


ELECTION 

SEC. 3. An election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secre¬ 
tary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Attorney-General, 
shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of Novem¬ 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
two, and every four years thereafter; for Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of Novem¬ 
ber, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every 
four years thereafter, and for Treasurer on the day last above men¬ 
tioned, and every two years thereafter, at such places and in such 
manner as may be prescribed by law. 

SEC. 4. The returns of every election for the above named 
officers shall be sealed up and transmitted, by the returning officers, 
to the Secretary of State, directed to “The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives,” who shall, immediately after the organization of 
the house, and before proceeding to other business, open and publish 
the same in the presence of a majority of each house of the General 
Assembly, who shall for that purpose assemble in the hall of the 
House of Representatives. The person having the highest number 
of votes for either of said offices, shall be declared duly elected; 
but ff two or more have an equal, and the highest number of votes, 
the General Assembly shall, by joint ballot, choose one of such per¬ 
sons for said office. Contested elections for all of said offices shall 
be determined by both houses of the General Assembly, by joint 
ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 


234 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


ELIGIBILITY 

SEC 5. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor, or 
Lieutenant-Governor, who shall not have attained the age of thirty 
years, and been for five years next preceding his election, a citizen 
of the United States and of this state. Neither the Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor, Auditor of Public Accounts, Secretary of 
State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, nor Attorney-General, 
shall be eligible to any other office during the period for which he 
shall have been elected. 

GOVERNOR 

SEC. 6. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the 
Governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

SEC. 7. The Governor shall, at the commencement of each 
session, and at the close of his term of office, give to the General 
Assembly information, by message, of the condition of the state, and 
shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient. He 
shall account to the General Assembly, and accompany his message 
with a statement of all moneys received and paid out by him from 
any funds subject to his order, with vouchers, and, at the commence¬ 
ment of each regular session, present estimates of the amount of 
money required to be raised by taxation for all purposes. 

SEC. 8. The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene 
the General Assembly, by proclamation, stating therein the purpose 
for which they are convened; and the General Assembly shall enter 
upon no business except that for which they were called together. 

SEC. 9. In case of disagreement between the two houses with 
respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor may, on the same 
being certified to him by the house first moving the adjournment, 
adjourn the General Assembly to such time as he thinks proper, not 
beyond the first day of the next regular session. 

SEC. 10. The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate (a majority of all the Senators 
elected concurring by yeas and nays), appoint all officers whose 
offices are established by this Constitution, or which may be created 
by law, and whose appointment or election is not otherwise provided 
for; and no such officer shall be appointed or elected by the General 
Assembly. 

SEC. 11. In case of vacancy, during the recess of the Senate, in 
any office which is not elective, the Governor shall make a temporary 
appointment until the next meeting of the Senate, when he shall 


APPENDIX 


235 


nominate some person to fill such office; and any person so nomi¬ 
nated, who is confirmed by the Senate (a majority of all the Sena¬ 
tors elected concurring by yeas and nays), shall hold his office during 
the remainder of the term, and until his successor shall be appointed 
and qualified. No person, after being rejected by the Senate, shall 
be again nominated for the same office at the same session, unless at 
the request of the Senate, or be appointed to the same office during 
the recess of the General Assembly. 

SEC. 12. The Governor shall have power to remove any officer 
whom he may appoint, in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or 
malfeasance in office; and he may declare his office vacant and fill 
the same as is herein provided in other cases of vacancy. 

SEC. 13. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, 
commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses, sub¬ 
ject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the 
manner of applying therefor. 

SEC. 14. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the 
military and naval forces of the state (except when they shall be 
called into the service of the United States) ; and may call out the 
same to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. 

• SEC. 15. The Governor, and all civil officers of this state, shall 
be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office. 

I 

VETO 

SEC. 16. Every bill passed by the General Assembly shall, before 
it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he 
shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law; but if he do not 
approve, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which 
it shall have originated, which house shall enter the objections at 
large upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, then, 
two-thirds of the members elected agree to pass the same, it shall 
be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which 
it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of 
the members elected to that house, it shall become a law, notwith¬ 
standing the objections of the Governor. But in all such cases, the 
vote of each house shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be 
entered on the journal. Any bill which shall not be returned by the 
Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, shall become a law in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the General Assembly shall, by their adjournment, 


236 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


prevent its return; in which case it shall be filed, with his objections, 
in the office of the Secretary of State, within ten days after such 
adjournment, or become a law. 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 

SEC 17. In case of the death, conviction or impeachment, fail¬ 
ure to qualify, resignation, absence from the state, or other disability 
of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office for 
the residue of the term, or until the disability shall be removed, shall 
devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor. 

SEC. 18. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the 
Senate, and shall vote only when the Senate is equally divided. The 
Senate shall choose a president, pro tempore, to preside in -case of 
the absence or impeachment of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he 
shall hold the office of Governor. 

SEC. 19. If there be no Lieutenant-Governor, or if the Lieu¬ 
tenant-Governor shall, for any of the causes specified in section 
seventeen of this article, become incapable of performing the duties 
of the office, the president of the Senate shall act as Governor until 
the vacancy is filled or the disability removed; and if the president 
of the Senate, for any of the above named causes, shall become 
incapable of performing the duties of Governor, the same shall 
devolve upon the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

OTHER STATE OFFICERS 

SEC. 20. If the office of Auditor of Public Accounts, Treasurer, 
Secretary of State, Attorney-General, or Superintendent of Public 
Instruction shall be vacated by death, resignation or otherwise, it 
shall be the duty of the Governor to fill the same by appointment, 
and the appointee shall hold his office until his successor shall be 
elected and qualified in such manner as may be provided by law. An 
account shall be kept by the officers of the executive department, and 
of all the public institutions of the state, of all moneys received or 
disbursed by them, severally, from all sources, and for every service 
performed, and a semi-annual report thereof be made to the Gov¬ 
ernor, under oath; and any officer who shall make a false report 
shall be guilty of perjury, and be punished accordingly. 

SEC. 21. The officers of the executive department, and of all the 
public institutions of the state, shall, at least ten days preceding each 
regular session of the General Assembly, severally report to the 
Governor, who shall submit such reports to the General Assembly, 


APPENDIX 


237 


together with the reports of the judges of the supreme court, of 
defects in the Constitution and laws; and the Governor may at any 
time require information, in writing, under oath, from the officers of 
the executive department, and all officers and managers of state insti¬ 
tutions, upon any subject relating to the conditions, management and 
expenses of their respective offices. 

THE SEAL OF STATE 

SEC. 22. There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be called 
the “Great Seal of the State of Illinois,” which shall be kept by the 
Secretary of State, and used by him, officially, as directed by law. 

FEES AND SALARIES 

SEC. 23. The officers named in this article shall receive for their 
services a salary, to be established by law, which shall not be in¬ 
creased or diminished during their official terms, and they shall not, 
after the expiration of the terms of those in office at the adoption of 
this Constitution, receive to their own use any fees, costs, perquisites 
of office, or other compensation. And all fees that may hereafter be 
payable by law for any services performed by any officer provided 
for in this article of the Constitution, shall be paid in advance into 
the state treasury. 


. DEFINITION AND OATH OF OFFICE 

SEC. 24. An office is a public position created by the Constitu¬ 
tion or law, continuing during the pleasure of the appointing power, 
or for a fixed time, witlr a successor elected or appointed. An 
employment is an agency for a temporary purpose, which ceases when 
that purpose is accomplished. 

SEC. 25. All civil officers, except members of the General 
Assembly and such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, 
shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take 
and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support 
the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of 

Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of-- 

according to the best of my ability.” 

And no other oath, declaration, or test shall be required as a 
qualification. 



238 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


ARTICLE VI 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

SECTION i. The judicial powers, except as in this article is 
otherwise provided, shall be vested in one supreme court, circuit 
courts, county courts, justices of the peace, police magistrates, and 
in such courts as may be created by law in and for cities and 
incorporated towns. 

SUPREME COURT 

SEC. 2. The supreme court shall consist of seven judges, and 
shall have original jurisdiction in cases relating to the revenue, in 
mandamus and habeas corpus, and appellate jurisdiction in all other 
cases. One of said judges shall be chief-justice; four shall consti¬ 
tute a quorum, and the concurrence of four shall be necessary to 
every decision. 

SEC. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of the 
supreme court unless he shall be at least thirty years of age, and a 
citizen of the United States, nor unless he shall have resided in this 
state five years next preceding his election, and be a resident of the 
district in which he shall be elected. 

SEC. 4. Terms of the supreme court shall continue to be held in 
the present grand divisions at the several places now provided for 
holding the same; and until otherwise provided by law, one or more 
terms of said court shall be held, for the northern division, in the 
City of Chicago each year at such times as said court may appoint, 
whenever said city or the County of Cook shall appoint appropriate 
rooms therefor, and the use of a suitable library, without expense to 
the state. The judicial divisions may be altered, increased or dimin¬ 
ished in number, and the times and places of holding said court may 
be changed by law. 

SEC. 5. The present grand divisions shall be preserved, and be 
denominated Southern, Central and Northern, until otherwise pro¬ 
vided by law. The state shall be divided into seven districts for the 
election of judges, and until otherwise provided by law, they shall 
be as follows: 

First District. The counties of St. Clair, Clinton, Washington, 
Jefferson, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, White, Hamilton, Franklin, 
Perry, Randolph, Monroe, Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, 
Hardin, Pope, Union, Johnson, Alexander, Pulaski, and Massac. 

Second District. The counties of Madison, Bond, Marion, Clay, 
Richland, Lawrence, Crawford, Jasper, Effingham, Fayette, Mont- 


V 


APPENDIX 


239 


gomery, Macoupin, Shelby, Cumberland, Clarke, Greene, Jersey, 
Calhoun, and Christian. 

Third District. The counties of Sangamon, Macon, Logan, De 
Witt, Piatt, Douglas, Champaign, Vermilion, McLean, Livingston, 
Ford, Iroquois, Coles, Edgar, Moultrie, and Tazewell. 

Fourth District. The counties of Fulton, McDonough, Hancock, 
Schuyler, Brown, Adams, Pike, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Cass, and 
Scott. 

Fifth District. The counties of Knox, Warren, Henderson, 
Mercer, Henry, Stark, Peoria, Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, LaSalle, 
Grundy, and Woodford. 

Sixth District. The counties of Whiteside, Carroll, Jo Daviess, 
Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, DeKalb, 
Lee, Ogle, and Rock Island. 

Seventh District. The counties of Lake, Cook, Will, Kankakee, 
and DuPage. 

The boundaries of the districts may be changed at the session of 
the General Assembly next preceding the election for judges therein, 
and at no other time; but whenever such alterations shall be made, 
the same shall be upon the rule of equality of population, as nearly 
as county boundaries will allow, and the districts shall be composed 
of -contiguous counties, in as nearly compact form as circumstances 
will permit. The alteration of the districts shall not affect the tenure 
of office of any judge. 

SEC. 6. At the time of voting on the adoption of this Constitu¬ 
tion, one judge of the supreme court shall be elected by the electors 
thereof, in each of said districts numbered two, three, six and seven, 
who shall hold his office for the term of nine years from the first 
Monday of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and seventy. The term of office of judges of the supreme court, 
elected after the adoption of this Constitution, shall be nine years ; 
and on the first Monday of June of the year in which the term of 
any of the judges in the office at the adoption of this Constitution, 
or of the judges then elected, shall expire, and every nine years 
thereafter, there shall be an election for the successor or successors 
of such judges, in the respective districts wherein the term of such 
judges shall expire. The chief-justice shall continue to act as such 
until the expiration of the term for which he was elected, after 
which the judges shall choose one of their number chief-justice. 

SEC. 7. From and after the adoption of this Constitution, the 
judges of the supreme court shall each receive a salary of four thou- 


240 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


sand dollars per annum, payable quarterly, until otherwise provided 
by law. And after said salaries shall be fixed by law, the salaries 
of the judges in office shall not be increased or diminished during 
the term for which said judges shall have been elected. 

SEC. 8. Appeals and writs of error may be taken to the supreme 
court, held in the grand division in which the case is decided, or, by 
consent of the parties, to any other grand division. 

SEC. 9. The supreme court shall appoint one reporter of its 
decisions, who shall hold his office for six years,, subject to removal 
by the court. 

SEC. 10. At the time of the election for Representatives in the 
General Assembly, happening next preceding the expiration of the 
terms of office of the present clerks of said court, one clerk of said 
court, for each division shall be elected, whose term of office shall 
be six years from said election, but who shall not enter upon the 
duties o^ his office until the expiration of the term of his prede¬ 
cessor, and every six years thereafter one clerk of said court for 
each division shall be elected. 

APPELLATE COURTS 

SEC. 11. After the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and seventy-four, inferior appellate courts, of uniform organi¬ 
zation and jurisdiction, may be created in districts formed for that 
purpose, to which such appeals and writs of error as the General 
Assembly may provide, may be prosecuted from circuit or other 
courts, and from which appeals and writs of error shall lie to the 
supreme court, in all criminal cases, and cases in which a franchise, 
or freehold, or the validity of a statute is involved, and in such other 
cases as may be provided by law. Such appellate courts shall be 
held by such number of judges of the circuit courts, and at such 
times and places, and in such manner as may be provided by law; 
but no judge shall sit in review upon cases decided by him; nor 
shall said judges receive any additional compensation for such 
services. 

CIRCUIT COURTS 

SEC. 12. The circuit courts shall have original jurisdiction of 
all causes in law and equity, and such appellate jurisdiction as is or 
may be provided by law, and shall hold two or more terms each 
year in every county. The terms of office of judges of circuit courts 
shall be six years. 

SEC. 13. The state, exclusive of the County of Cook and other 


APPENDIX 


241 


counties having' a population of one liundred thousand, shall be 
divided into judicial circuits, prior to the expiration of the terms of 
office of the present judges of the circuit courts. Such circuits shall 
be formed of contiguous counties, in as nearly compact form and 
as nearly equal as circumstances will permit, having due regard to 
business, territory, and population, and shall not exceed in number 
one circuit for every one hundred thousand of population in the state. 
One judge shall be elected for each of said circuits by the electors 
thereof. New circuits may be formed and the boundaries of circuits 
changed by the General Assembly, at its session next preceding the 
election for circuit judges, but at no other time: Provided, that the 
circuits may be equalized or changed, at the first session of the 
General Assembly after the adoption of this Constitution. The 
creation, alteration or change of any circuit shall not affect the 
tenure of office of any judge. Whenever the business of the cir¬ 
cuit court of any one, or of two or more contiguous counties, con¬ 
taining a population exceeding fifty thousand, shall occupy nine 
months of the year, the General Assembly may make of such county, 
or counties, a separate circuit. Whenever additional circuits are 
created, the foregoing limitations shall be observed. 

SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall provide for the times of 
holding court in each county; which shall not be changed, except 
by the General Assembly next preceding the general election for 
judges of said courts; but additional terms may be provided for in 
any county. The election for judges of the circuit courts shall be 
held on the first Monday in June, in the year of our Lord one thou¬ 
sand eight hundred and seventy-three, and every six years thereafter. 

SEC. 15. The General Assembly may divide the state into judi¬ 
cial circuits of greater population and territory, in lieu of the circuits 
provided for in section thirteen of this article, and provide for the 
election therein, severally, by the electors thereof, by general ticket, 
of not exceeding four judges, who shall hold the circuit courts in 
the circuit for which they shall be elected, in such manner as may 
be provided by law. 

SEC. 16. From and after the adoption of this Constitution, 
judges of the circuit courts shall receive a salary of three thousand 
dollars per annum, payable quarterly, until otherwise provided by 
law. And after their salaries shall be fixed by law, they shall not 
be increased or diminished during the terms for which said judges 
shall be respectively elected; and from and after the adoption of this 
Constitution, no judge of the supreme or circuit court shall receive 


242 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


any other compensation, perquisite or benefit, in any form whatso¬ 
ever, nor perform any other than judicial duties to which may belong 
any emoluments. 

SEC. 17. No person shall be eligible to the office of judge of the 
circuit or any inferior court, or to membership in the “board of 
county commissioners/’ unless he shall be at least twenty-five years 
of age, and a citizen of the United States, nor unless he shall have 
resided in this state five years next preceding his election, and be a 
resident of the circuit, county, city, cities, or incorporated town in 
which he shall be elected. 

COUNTY COURTS 

SEC. 18. There shall be elected in and for each county, one 
county judge and one clerk of the county court, whose terms of 
office shall be four years. But the General Assembly may create 
districts of two or more contiguous counties, in each of which shall 
be elected one judge, who shall take the place of, and exercise the 
powers and jurisdiction of county judges in such districts. County 
courts shall be courts of records, and shall have original jurisdic¬ 
tion in all matters of probate; settlement of estates of deceased 
persons, appointments of guardians and conservators, and settle¬ 
ments of their accounts; in all matters relating to apprentices; and 
in proceedings for the collection of taxes and assessments, and such 
other jurisdiction as may be provided for by general law. 

SEC. 19. Appeals and writs of error shall be allowed from final 
determinations of county courts, as may be provided by law. 

PROBATE COURTS 

SEC. 20. The General Assembly may provide for the establish¬ 
ment of a probate court in each county having a population of over 
fifty thousand, and for the election of a judge thereof, whose term 
of office shall be the same as that of the county judge, and who shall 
be elected at the same time and in the same manner. Said courts, 
when established, shall have original jurisdiction of all probate 
matters, the settlement of estates of deceased persons, the appoint¬ 
ment of guardians and conservators, and settlements of their ac¬ 
counts ; hi all matters relating to apprentices, and in cases of sales 
of real estate of deceased persons for the payment of debts. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND CONSTABLES 

SEC. 21. Justices of the peace, police magistrates, and constables 
shall be elected in and for such districts as are, or may be, provided 


APPENDIX 


243 


by law, and the jurisdiction of such justices of the peace and police 
magistrates shall be uniform. 

state’s attorney 

SEC. 22. At the election for members of the General Assembly 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
two, and every four years thereafter, there shall be elected a state’s 
attorney in and for each county, in lieu of the state’s attorneys 
now provided by law, whose term of office shall be four years. 

COURTS OF COOK COUNTY 

SEC. 23. The County of Cook shall be one judicial circuit. The 
circuit court of Cook County shall consist of five judges, until their 
number shall be increased, as herein provided. The present judge 
of the recorder’s court of the City of Chicago, and the present 
judge of the circuit court of Cook County shall be two of said 
judges, and shall remain in office for the terms for which they were 
respectively elected, and until their successors shall be elected and 
qualified. The superior court of Chicago shall be continued and 
called the “Superior Court of Cook County.” The General Assem¬ 
bly may increase the number of said judges, by adding one to 
either of said courts for every additional fifty thousand inhabitants 
in said county over and above a population of four hundred thou¬ 
sand. The terms of office of the judges of said courts, hereinafter 
elected, shall be six years. 

SEC. 24. The judge having the shortest unexpired term shall be 
chief-justice of the court of which he is a judge. In case there are 
two or more whose terms expire at the same time, it may be deter¬ 
mined by lot which shall be chief-justice. Any judge of either of 
said courts shall have all the powers of a circuit judge, and may 
hold the court of which he is a member. Each of them may hold a 
different branch thereof at the same time. 

SEC. 25. The judges of the superior and circuit courts, and the 
state’s attorney, in said county, shall receive the same salaries, pay¬ 
able out of the state treasury, as is or may be paid from said treas¬ 
ury to the circuit judges and state’s attorneys of the state, and 
such further .compensation, to be paid by the County of Cook, as is 
or may be provided by law. Such compensation shall not be changed 
during their continuance in office. 

SEC. 26. The recorder’s court of the City of Chicago shall be 
continued, and shall be called the “Criminal Court of Cook County.” 
It shall have the jurisdiction of a circuit court in all cases of crim- 


244 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


inal and quasi criminal nature, arising in the County of Cook, or 
that may be brought before said court pursuant to law; and all recog¬ 
nizances and appeals taken in said county, in criminal and quasi 
criminal cases shall be returnable and taken to said court. It shall 
have no jurisdiction in civil cases, except in those on behalf of the 
people, and incident to such criminal or quasi criminal matters, and 
to dispose of unfinished business. The terms of said Criminal Court 
of Cook County shall be held by one or more of the judges of the 
circuit or superior court of Cook County, as nearly as may be in 
alternation, as may be determined by said judges, or provided by 
law. Said judges shall be ex-officio judges of said court. 

SEC. 27. The present clerk of the recorder’s court of the City 
of Chicago shall be the clerk of the Criminal Court of Cook County, 
during the term for which he was elected. The present clerks of 
the superior court of Chicago, and the present clerk of the circuit 
court of Cook County, shall continue in office during the terms for 
which they were respectively elected; and thereafter there shall be 
but one clerk of the superior court, to be elected by the qualified 
electors of said county, who shall hold his office for the term of four 
years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. 

SEC. 28. All justices of the peace in the City of Chicago shall 
be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate (but only upon the recommendatibn of a majority of 
the judges of the circuit, superior and county courts), and for such 
districts as are now or shall hereafter be provided by law. They 
shall hold their offices for four years, and until their successors have 
been commissioned and qualified, but they may be removed by sum¬ 
mary proceeding in the circuit or superior court, for extortion or 
other malfeasance. Existing justices of the peace and police mag¬ 
istrates may hold their offices until the expiration of their respective 
terms. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS 

SEC. 29. All judicial officers shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. All laws relating to courts shall be general, and of 
uniform operation; and the organization, jurisdiction, powers, pro¬ 
ceedings, and practice of all courts, of the same class or grade, so 
far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the process, 
judgments and decrees of such courts, severally, shall be uniform. 

SEC. 30. The General Assembly may, for cause entered on the 
journals, upon due notice and opportunity of defense, remove from 
office any judge, upon concurrence of three-fourths of all the mem- 


APPENDIX 


245 


bers elected, of each house. All other officers in this article men¬ 
tioned shall be removed from office on prosecution and final 
conviction, for misdemeanor in office. 

SEC. 31. All judges of courts of record, inferior to the supreme 
court, shall, on or before the first day of June, of each year, report 
in writing to the judges of the supreme court, such defects and 
omissions in the laws as their experience may suggest; and the 
judges of the supreme court shall, on or before the first day of 
January, of each year, report in writing to the Governor such de¬ 
fects and omissions in the Constitution and laws as they may find 
to exist, together with appropriate forms of bills to cure such defects 
and omissions in the laws. And the judges of the several circuit 
courts shall report to the next General Assembly^ the number of 
days they have held court in the several counties composing their 
respective circuits, the preceding two years. 

SEC. 32. AH officers provided for in this article shall hold their 
offices until their successors shall be qualified, and they shall, respec¬ 
tively, reside in the division, circuit, county or district for which 
they may be elected or appointed. The term of office of all such 
officers, where not otherwise prescribed in this article, shall be four 
years. All officers, where not otherwise provided for in this article, 
shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as is, or 
may be, provided by law. Vacancies in such : elective offices shall be 
filled by election; but where the unexpired term does not exceed one 
year, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment, as follows: Of 
judges, by the Governor; of clerks of courts, by the court to which 
the office appertains, or by the judge or judges thereof; and of all 
such other offices, by the board of supervisors, or board of county 
commissioners, in the county where the vacancy occurs. 

SEC. 33. All process shall run: In the name of the people of 
the State of Illinois; and all prosecutions shall be carried on: In the 
name and by the authority of the People of the State of Illinois ; 
and conclude: Against the peace and dignity of the same. “Popu¬ 
lation,” wherever used in this article, shall be determined by 'the 
next preceding census of this state, or of the United States. 

od Ifsil .ItooiorlJ zbaoooiq sr'l 
ARTICLE VII atfig rfojjg rid 

SUFFRAGE 

SECTION 1. Every person having resided in this state one 
year, in the county ninety days, and in the election district thirty 
Hays next preceding any election therein, who was an elector in this 


246 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


state on the first day of April, in the year of our Lord one thou¬ 
sand eight hundred and forty-eight, or obtained a certificate of 
naturalization, before any court of record in .this state, prior to the 
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and seventy, or who shall be a male citizen of the United 
States, above the age of twenty-one years, shall be entitled to vote 
at such election. * 

SEC. 2. All votes shall be by ballot. 

SEC. 3. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same. And 
no elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the days of election, 
except in time of war or public danger. 

SEC. 4. No elector shall be deemed to have lost his residence in 
this state by reason of his absence on the business of the United 
States, or of this state, or in the military or naval service of the 
United States. 

SEC. 5. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of 
the United States, shall be deemed a resident of this state in conse¬ 
quence of being stationed therein. 

SEC. 6. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office 
in this state, civil or military, who is not a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not have resided in this^ state one year next 
preceding the election or appointment. 

SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall pass laws excluding from 
the right of suffrage persons convicted of infamous crimes. 

ARTICLE VIII 

EDUCATION 

SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall provide a thorough 
and efficient system of free schools, whereby all children of this state 
may receive a good common school education. 

SEC. 2. All lands, moneys, or other property, donated, granted, 
or received for school, college, seminary or university purposes, and 
the proceeds thereof, shall be faithfully applied to the objects for 
which such gifts or grants were made. 

SEC. 3. Neither the General Assembly nor any county, city, 
town, township, school district, or other public corporation, shall 
ever make any appropriation or pay from any public fund whatever, 
anything in aid of any church or sectarian purpose, or to help sup- 


APPENDIX 


247 


port or sustain any school, academy, seminary, college, university, or 
other literary or scientific institution, controlled by any church or 
sectarian denomination whatever; nor shall any grant or donation 
of land, money, or other personal property ever be made by the 
state, or any such public corporation, to any church, or for any 
sectarian purpose. 

SEC 4. No teacher, state, county, township, or district school 
officer shall be interested in the sale, proceeds, or profits of any book, 
apparatus, or furniture, used or to be used, in any school in this 
state, with which such officer or teacher may be connected, under 
such penalties as may be provided by the General Assembly. 

SEC. 5. There may be a county superintendent of schools in 
each county whose qualifications, powers, duties, compensation, and 
time and manner of election, and term of office, shall be prescribed 
by law. 

ARTICLE IX 

REVENUE 

SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall provide such revenue 
as may be needful by levying a tax, by valuation, so that every per¬ 
son and corporation shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of 
his, her, or its property—such value to be ascertained by some person 
or persons, to be elected or appointed in such manner as the General 
Assembly shall direct and not otherwise; but the General Assembly 
shall have power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, brokers, hawkers, 
merchants, commission merchants, showmen, jugglers, inn-keepers, 
grocery-keepers, liquor-dedlers, toll-bridges, ferries, insurance, tele¬ 
graph and express interests or business, venders of patents, and 
persons or corporations owning or using franchises and privileges, 
in such manner as it shall, from time to time, direct by general law, 
uniform as to the class upon which it operates. 

SEC. 2. The specification of the objects and subjects of taxation 
shall not deprive the General Assembly of the power to require 
other subjects or objects to be taxed, in such manner as may be 
consistent with the principles of taxation fixed in this Constitution. 

SEC. 3. The property of the state, counties, and other munici¬ 
pal corporations, both real and personal, and such other property, 
as may be used exclusively for agricultural and horticultural socie¬ 
ties, for school, religious, cemetery and charitable purposes, may be 
exempted from taxation; but such exemption shall be only by general 
law. In the assessment of real estate incumbered by public ease- 


248 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


ment, any depreciation occasioned by such easement may be deducted 
in the valuation of such property. 

SEC. 4. The General Assembly shall provide, in all cases where 
it may be necessary to sell real estate for the non-payment of taxes 
or special assessments, for state, county, municipal or other pur¬ 
poses, that a return of such unpaid taxes or assessments shall be 
made to some general officer of the county, having authority to 
receive state and county taxes; and there shall be no sale of said 
property for any of said taxes or assessments but by said officer, 
upon the order or judgment of some court of record. 

SEC. 5. The ri'ght of redemption from all sales of real estate, 
for the non-payment of taxes or special assessments of any charac¬ 
ter whatever shall exist in favor of owners and persons interested 
in such real estate, for a period of not less than two years from 
such sales thereof. And the General Assembly shall provide, by law, 
for reasonable notice to be given to the owners of parties interested, 
by publication or otherwise, of the fact of the sale of the property 
for such taxes or assessments, and when the time of redemption 
shall expire: Provided, that occupants shall in all cases be served 
with personal notice before the time of redemption expires. 

SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall have no power to release 
or discharge any county, city, township, town or district, whatever, 
or th,e inhabitants thereof, or the property therein, from their or 
its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for state purposes, 
nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized in any form 
whatsoever. 

SEC. 7. All taxes levied for state purposes shall be paid into 
the state treasury. 

SEC. 8. County authorities 'shall never assess taxes, the aggre¬ 
gate of which shall exceed seventy-five cents per one hundred 
dollars’ valuation, except for the payment of indebtedness existing 
at the adoption of this Constitution, unless authorized by a vote of 
the people of the county. 

SEC. 9. The General Assembly may vest the corporate authori¬ 
ties of cities, towns, and villages, with power to make local improve¬ 
ments by special assessment or by special taxation of contiguous 
property, or otherwise. For all other corporate purposes, all munic¬ 
ipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect 
taxes; but such taxes shall be uniform in respect to persons and 
property, within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same. 

SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall not impose taxes upon 


APPENDIX 


249 


municipal corporations, or the inhabitants or property thereof, for 
corporate purposes, but shall require that all the taxable property 
within the limits of municipal corporations shall be taxed for the 
payment of debts contracted under authority of law, such taxes to 
be uniform in respect to persons and property, within the juris¬ 
diction of the body imposing the same. Private property shall not 
be liable to be taken or sold for the payment of* the corporate debts 
of a municipal corporation. 

SEC. ii. No person who is in default, as collector or custodian 
of money or property belonging to a municipal corporation, shall be 
eligible to any office in or under such corporation. The fees, salary 
or compensation of no municipal officer who is elected or appointed 
for a definite term of office, shall be increased or diminished during 
such term. 

SEC. 12. No county, city, township, school district, or other 
municipal corporation shall be allowed to become indebted in any 
manner or for any purpose, to an amount, including existing indebt¬ 
edness, in the aggregate exceeding five per centum on the value of 
the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment 
for state and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebt- 
/ edness. Any county, city, school district, or other municipal corpo¬ 
ration, incurring any indebtedness as aforesaid, shall before, or at 
the time of doing so, provide for the collection of a direct annual 
tax sufficient to pay the interest on such debt, as it falls due, and 
also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within twenty years 
from the time of contracting the same. This section shall not be 
construed to prevent any county, city, township, school district, or 
other municipal corporation from issuing their bonds in compliance 
with any vote of the people which may have, been had prior to the 
adoption of this Constitution in pursuance of any law providing 
therefor. 

SEC. 13. The corporate’ authorities of the City of Chicago are 
hereby authorized to issue interest-bearing bonds of said city to an 
amount not exceeding five million dollars, at a rate of interest not 
to exceed five per centum per annum, the principal payable within 
thirty years from the date of their issue, ancj the proceeds thereof 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the World’s Columbian Exposition, 
and used and disbursed by him under the direction and control of 
the directors, in aid of the World’s Columbian Exposition, to be 
held in the City of Chicago, in pursuance of an act of Congress 
of the United States: Provided, that if at an election for the adop- 


250 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


tion of this amendment to the Constitution a majority of the votes 
cast within the limits of the City of Chicago shall be against its 
adoption, then no bonds shall be issued under this amendment. 

And said corporate authorities shall be repaid as large a propor¬ 
tionate amount of the aid given by them as is repaid to the stock¬ 
holders on the sums • subscribed and paid by them, and the money 
so received shall be used in the redemption of the bonds issued as 
aforesaid, provided that said authorities may take in whole or in 
part of the sum coming to them any permanent improvements placed 
on land held or controlled by them: And, provided further, that 
no such indebtedness so created shall in any part thereof be paid 
by the state, or from any state revenue, tax or fund, but the same 
shall be paid by the said City of Chicago alone. 

ARTICLE X 

COUNTIES 

SECTION i. No new county shall be formed or established by 
the General Assembly, which will reduce the county or counties, or 
either of them, from which it shall be taken, to less contents than 
four hundred square miles; nor shall any county be formed of less 
contents; nor shall any line thereof pass within less than ten miles, 
of any county seat of the county or counties proposed to be divided. 

SEC. 2. No county shall be divided, or have any part stricken 
therefrom, without submitting the question to a vote of the people 
of the county, nor unless a majority of all the legal voters of the 
county, voting on the question, shall vote for the same. 

SEC. 3. There shall be no territory stricken from any county, 
unless a majority of the voters living in such territory, shall petition 
for such division; and no territory shall be added to any county 
without the consent of the majority of the voters of the county to 
which it is proposed to be added. But the portion so stricken off 
and added to another county, or formed in whole or in part into a 
new county, shall be holden for, and obliged to pay its proportion of 
the indebtedness of the county from which it has been taken. 

COUNTY SEATS 

SEC. 4. No county seat shall be removed until the point to 
which it is proposed to be removed shall be fixed in pursuance of 
law, and three-fifths of the voters of the county, to be ascertained 
in such manner as shall be provided by general law, shall have voted 


APPENDIX 


251 


in favor of its removal to such point; and no person shall vote on 
such question who has not resided in the county six months, and 
in the election precinct ninety days next preceding such election. 
The question of the removal of a county seat shall not be oftener 
submitted than once in ten years, to a vote of the people. But when 
an attempt is made to remove a county seat to a point nearer to the 
center of a county, then a majority vote only shall be necessary. 

COUNTY GOVERNMENT 

SEC 5. The General Assembly shall provide, by general law, 
for township organization, under which any county may organize 
whenever a majority of the legal voters of such county, voting at 
any general election, shall so determine, and whenever any county 
shall adopt township organization, so much of this Constitution as 
provides for the management of the fiscal concerns of the said 
county by the board of county commissioners, may be dispensed 
with, and the affairs of said county may be transacted in such 
manner as the General Assembly may provide. And in any county 
that shall have adopted a township organization, the question of 
continuing the same may be submitted to a vote of the electors of 
such county, at a general election, in the manner that now is or 
may be provided by law; and if a majority of all the votes cast 
upon that question shall be against township organization, then such 
organization shall cease in said county; and all laws in force in 
relation to counties not having township organization shall imme¬ 
diately take effect and be in force in such county. No two town¬ 
ships shall have the same name, and the day of holding the annual 
township meeting shall be uniform throughout the state. 

SEC. 6. At the first election of county judges under this Con¬ 
stitution, there shall be elected in each of the counties in this state, 
not under township organization, three officers, who shall be styled 
“The Board of County Commissioners,” who shall hold sessions 
for the transaction of county business as shall be provided by law. 
One of said commissioners shall hold his office for one year, one for 
two years, and one for three years, to be determined by lot; and 
every year thereafter one such officer shall be elected in each of said 
counties for the term of three years. 

SEC. 7. The county affairs of Cook County shall be managed 
by a board of commissioners of fifteen persons, ten of whom shall 
be elected from the City of Chicago, and five from towns outside of 
said city, in such manner as may be provided by law. 


252 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


COUNTY OFFICERS AND THEIR COMPENSATION 

SEC. 8. In each county there shall be elected the following 
county officers, at the general election to be held on the Tuesday 
after the first Monday in November, A. D., 1882: A county judge, 
county clerk, sheriff, and treasurer, and at the election to be held on 
the Tuesday after (the first Monday in November, A. D., 1884, a 
coroner and clerk of the circuit court (who may be ex-officio 
recorder of deeds, except in counties- having 60,000 and more inhab¬ 
itants, in which counties a recorder of deeds shall be elected at the 
general election in 1884). Each of said officers shall enter upon the 
duties of his office, respectively, on the first Monday of December 
after his election, and they shall hold their respective offices for the 
term of four years, and until their successors are elected and quali¬ 
fied : Provided, that no person having once been elected to the office 
of sheriff or treasurer shall be eligible to re-election to said office 
for four years after the expiration of the term for which he shall 
have been elected. 

SEC. 9. The clerks of all the courts of record, the treasurer, 
sheriff, coroner and recorder of deeds of Cook County, shall receive 
as their only compensation for their services, salaries to be fixed by 
law, which shall in no case be as much as the lawful compensation 
of a judge of the circuit court of said county, and shall be paid, 
respectively, only out of the fees of the office actually collected. All 
fees, perquisites and emoluments (above the amounts of said sala¬ 
ries) shall be paid into the county treasury. The number of the 
deputies and assistants of such officers shall be determined by rule of 
the circuit court, to be entered of record, and their compensation 
shall be determined by the county board. 

SEC. 10. The county board, except as provided in section nine 
of this article, shall fix the compensation of all county officers, with 
the amount of their necessary clerk hire, stationery, fuel and other 
expenses, and in all cases where fees are provided for, said compen¬ 
sation shall be pajd only out of, and shall in no instance exceed, the 
fees actually collected, they shall not allow either of them more per 
annum than fifteen hundred dollars, in counties not exceeding twenty 
thousand inhabitants; two thousand dollars, in counties containing 
twenty thousand and not exceeding thirty thousand inhabitants; 
twenty-five hundred dollars, in counties containing thirty thousand 
and not exceeding fifty thousand inhabitants; three thousand dollars, 
in counties containing fifty thousand and not exceeding seventy thou¬ 
sand inhabitants; thirty-five hundred dollars, in counties containing 


APPENDIX 


253 


seventy thousand and not exceeding one hundred thousand inhabit¬ 
ants ; and four thousand dollars, in counties containing one hundred 
thousand and not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand inhabit¬ 
ants ; and not more than one thousand dollars additional compensa¬ 
tion for each additional one hundred thousand inhabitants: Pro¬ 
vided, that the compensation of no officer shall be increased or 
diminished during his term of office. All fees or allowances by 
them received, in excess of their said compensation, shall be paid 
into the county treasury. 

SEC. ii. The fees of township officers, and of each class of 
county officers, shall be uniform in the class of counties to which 
they respectively belong. The compensation herein provided for 
shall apply only to officers hereafter elected, but all fees established 
by special laws shall cease at the adoption of this Constitution, and 
such officers shall receive only such fees as are provided by general 
law. 

SEC. 12. All laws fixing the fees of state, county, and township 
officers shall terminate with the terms respectively of those who may 
be in office at the meeting of the first General Assembly after the 
adoption of this constitution; and the General Assembly shall, by 
general law, uniform in its operation, provide for and regulate the 
fees of said officers and their successors, so as to reduce the same 
to a reasonable compensation for services actually rendered. But 
the General Assembly may, by general law, classify the counties by 
population into not more than three classes, and regulate the fees 
according to class. This article shall not be construed as depriving 
the General Assembly of the power to reduce the fees of existing 
officers. 

SEC. 13. Every person who is elected or appointed to any office 
in this state, who shall be paid in whole or in part by fees, shall be 
required by law to make a semi-annual report, under oath, to some 
officer to be designated by law, of all his fees and emoluments. 

ARTICLE XI 

CORPORATIONS 

SECTION 1. No corporation shall be created by special laws, 
or its charter extended, changed, or amended, except those for 
charitable, educational, penal, or reformatory purposes, which are 
to be and remain under the patronage and control of the state, but 
the General Assembly shall provide, by general laws, for the organi¬ 
zation of all corporations hereafter to be created. 


254 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


SEC 2. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive 
privileges, under which organization shall not have taken place, or 
which shall not have been in operation within ten days from the 
time this Constitution takes effect, shall thereafter have no validity 
or effect whatever. 

SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, that in all • 
elections for directors or managers of incorporated companies, every 
stockholder shall have the right to vote, in person or by proxy, for 
the number of shares of stock owned by. him, for as many persons 
as there are directors and managers to be elected, or to cumulate 
said shares, and give one candidate as many votes as the number of 
directors multipliedby the number of his shares of stock, shall equal, 
or distribute them on the same principle among as many candidates 
as he shall think fit; and such directors or managers shall not be 
elected in any other manner. 

SEC. 4. No law shall be passed by the General Assembly grant¬ 
ing the right to construct and operate a street railroad within any 
city, town, or incorporated village, without requiring the consent 
of the local authorities having the control of the street or highway 
proposed to be occupied by such street railroad. 

BANKS 

SEC. 5. No state bank shall hereafter be created, nor shall the 
state own or be liable for any stock in any corporation or joint stock 
company or association for banking purposes, now created, or to be 
hereafter created. No act of the General Assembly authorizing or 
creating corporations or associations, with banking powers, whether 
of issue, deposit or discount, nor amendments thereto, shall go into 
effect, or in any manner be in force, unless the same shall be sub¬ 
mitted to a vote of the people at the general election next succeeding 
the passage of the same, and be approved by a majority of all the 
votes cast at such an election for or against such law. 

SEC. 6. Every stockholder in a banking corporation or institu¬ 
tion shall be individually responsible and liable to its creditors, over 
and above the amount of stock by him or her held, to an amount 
equal to his or her respective shares so held, for all liabilities 
accruing while he or she remains such stockholder. 

SEC. 7. The suspension of specie payments by banking institu¬ 
tions, on their circulation, created by the laws of this state, shall 
never be permitted or sanctioned. Every banking association now, 
or which may hereafter be, organized under the laws of this state 


APPENDIX 


255 


shall make and publish a full and accurate quarterly statement of 
its affairs (which shall be certified to, under oath, by one or more 
of its officers), as may be provided by law. 

SEC. 8. If a general banking law shall be enacted, it shall pro¬ 
vide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer of state, of 
all bills or paper credit, designed to circulate as money, and require 
security, to the full amount thereof, to be deposited with the State 
Treasurer, in United States or Illinois State stocks, to be rated at 
ten per cent below their par value; and in case of a depreciation of 
said stocks to the amount of ten per cent below par, the bank or 
banks owning said stocks shall be required to make up said defi¬ 
ciency, by depositing additional stocks. And said law shall also 
provide for the recording of the names of all stockholders in such 
corporation, the amount of stock held by each, the time of any 
transfer thereof, and to whom such transfer is made. 

RAILROADS 

SEC. 9. Every railroad corporation organized or doing business 
in this state, under the laws or authority therepf, shall have and 
maintain a public office or place in this state for the transaction of 
its business, where transfers of stock shall be made and in which 
shall be kept for public inspection books in which shall be recorded 
the amount of capital stock subscribed, and by whom; the names of 
the owners of its stock, and the amounts owned by them respec¬ 
tively; the amount of stock paid in, and by whom; the transfers 
of said stock; the amount of its assets and liabilities, and the names 
and places of residence of its officers. The directors of every rail¬ 
way corporation shall, annually, make a report, under oath, to the 
auditor of public accounts, or some officer to be designated by law, 
of all their ^cts and doing, which report shall include such matters 
relating to railroads as may be prescribed by law. And the General 
Assembly shall pass laws enforcing by suitable penalties the pro¬ 
visions of this section. 

SEC. 10. The rolling stock, and all other movable property be¬ 
longing to any railroad company or corporation in this state, shall 
be considered personal property, and shall be liable to execution 
and sale in the same manner as the personal property of individuals, 
and the General Assembly shall pass no law exempting any such 
property from execution and sale. 

SEC. 11. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, 
property or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a 


256 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation 
take place except upon public notice given, of at least sixty days, to 
all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided by law. A 
majority of the directors of any railroad corporation, now incor¬ 
porated or hereafter to be incorporated by the laws of this state, 
shall be citizens and residents of this state. 

SEC. 12. Railways heretofore constructed or that may hereafter 
be constructed in this state, are hereby declared public highways, 
and shall be free to all persons, for the transportation of their per¬ 
sons and property thereon, under such regulations as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law. And the General Assembly shall, from time to time, 
pass laws establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the 
transportation of passengers and freight on the different railroads 
in this state. 

SEC. 13. No railroad corporation shall issue any stocks or 
bonds, except for money, labor or property, actually received, and 
applied to the purpose for which such corporation was created; and 
all stock dividends, and other fictitious increase of capital stock 
or indebtedness of any such corporation shall be void. The capital 
stock of no railroad corporation shall be increased for any purpose, 
except upon giving sixty days’ public notice, in such manner as jnay 
be provided by law. 

SEC. 14. The exercise of the power, and the right of eminent 
domain shall never be so construed or abridged as to prevent the 
taking, by the General Assembly, of the property and franchises of 
incorporated companies already organized, and subjecting them to 
the public necessity the same as of individuals. The right of trial 
by jury shall be held inviolate in all trials of claims for compensa¬ 
tion, when, in the exercise of the said right of eminent domain, any 
incorporated company shall be interested either for or against the 
exercise of said right. 

SEC. 15. The General Assembly shall pass laws to correct abuses 
and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates of 
freight and passenger tariffs on the different railroads in this state, 
and enforce such laws, by adequate penalties, to the extent, if neces¬ 
sary for that purpose, of forfeiture of their property and franchises. 

ARTICLE XII 

MILITIA 

SECTION 1. The militia of the State of Illinois shall consist 
of all able-bodied male persons, residents in the state, between the 


APPENDIX 


257 


ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such persons as now are, or 
hereafter may be, exempted by the laws of the United States, or of 
this state. 

SEC. 2. The General Assembly, in providing for the organiza¬ 
tion, equipment and discipline of the militia, shall conform as 
nearly as practicable to the regulations for the government of the 
armies of the United States. 

SEG 3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the Gov¬ 
ernor, and may hold their commissions for such time as the General 
Assembly may provide. 

SEC. 4. The militia shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at musters and elections, and in going to and returning from 
the same. 

SEC. 5. The military records, banners and relics of the state 
shall be preserved as an enduring memorial of the patriotism and 
valor of Illinois, and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly 
to provide by law for the safe keeping of the same. 

SEC. 6. No person having conscientious scruples against bear¬ 
ing arms shall be compelled to do military duty in time of peace: 
Provided, such person shall pay an equivalent for such exemption. 

ARTICLE XIII 

WAREHOUSES 

SECTION 1. All elevators or storehouses where grain or other 
property is stored for a compensation, whether the property stored 
"be kept separate or not, are declared to be public warehouses. 

SEC. 2. The owner, lessee, or manager of each and every public 
warehouse situated in any town or city of not less than one hundred 
thousand inhabitants, shall make weekly statements under oath, be¬ 
fore some officer to be designated by law, and keep the same posted 
in some conspicuous place in the office of said warehouse, and shall 
also file a copy for public examination in such place as shall be 
designated by law, which statement shall correctly set forth the 
amount and grade of each and every kind of grain in such ware¬ 
house, together with such other property as may be stored therein, 
and what warehouse receipts have been issued, and are, at the time 
of making such statement, outstanding therefor; and shall, on the 
copy posted in the warehouse, note daily changes as may be made 
in the quantity and grade of grain in such warehouse; and the differ¬ 
ent grades of grain shipped in separate lots shall not be mixed with 


258 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


inferior or superior grades, without the consent of the owner or 
consignee thereof. 

SEC. 3. The owners of property stored in any warehouse, or 
holder of a receipt for the same, shall always be at liberty to 
examine such property stored, and all the books and records of the 
warehouse, in regard to such property. 

SEC. 4. All railroad companies and other common carriers on 
railroads shall weigh or measure grain at such points where it is 
shipped, and receipt for the full amount, and shall be responsible for 
the delivery of such amount to the owner or consignee thereof, at 
the place of destination. 

SEC. 5. All railroad companies receiving and transporting grain 
in bulk or otherwise shall deliver the same to any consignee thereof, 
or any elevator or public warehouse to which it may be consigned, 
provided such consignee or the elevator or public warehouse can be 
reached by any track owned, leased or used, or which can be used, 
by such railroad companies; and all railroad companies shall permit 
connections to be made with their track, so that any such consignee, 
and any public warehouse, coal bank or coal yard, may be reached by 
the cars on said railroad. 

SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass 
all necessary laws to prevent the issue of false and fraudulent ware¬ 
house receipts, and to give full effect to this article of the constitu¬ 
tion, which shall be liberally construed so as to protect producers 
and shippers. And the enumeration of the remedies herein named 
shall not be construed to deny to the General Assembly the power to 
describe by law such other and further remedies as may be found 
expedient, or to deprive any person of existing common law 
remedies. 

SEC. 7. The General Assembly shall pass laws for the inspec¬ 
tion of grain, for the protection of producers, shippers, and receivers 
of grain and produce. 

ARTICLE XIV 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 

SECTION i. Whenever two-thirds of the members of each 
house of the General Assembly shall, by a vote entered upon the 
journals thereof, concur that a convention is necessary to revise, 
alter or amend the Constitution, the question shall be submitted to 
the electors at the next general election. If a majority voting at the 
election vote for a convention, the General Assembly shall, at the 


APPENDIX 


259- 


next session, provide for a convention, to consist of double the 
number of members of the Senate, to be elected »in same manner, at 
the same places, and in the same districts. The General Assembly 
shall, in the act of calling the convention, designate the day, hour 
and place of its meeting, fixing the pay of its members and officers,, 
and provide for the payment of the same, together with the ex¬ 
penses necessarily incurred by the convention in the performance of 
its duties. Before proceeding, the members shall take an oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of 
Illinois, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the 
convention. The qualification of^members shall be the same as that 
of members of the Senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled 
in the manner provided for filling vacancies in the General Assem¬ 
bly. Said convention shall meet within three months after such elec¬ 
tion, and prepare such revision, alteration or amendments of the 
Constitution as shall be deemed necessary, which shall be submitted 
to the electors for their ratification or rejection, at an election, 
appointed by the convention for that purpose, not less than two nor 
more than six months after the adjournment thereof; and unless so 
submitted and approved, by a majority of the electors voting at the 
election, no such revision, alteration or amendments shall take effect.. 

SEC. 2. Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in 
either house of the General Assembly, and if the same shall be 
voted for by two-thirds of all the members elected to each of the 
two houses, such proposed amendments, together with the yeas and 
nays of each house thereon, shall be entered in full on their respec¬ 
tive journals, and said amendments shall be submitted to the electors 
of this state for adoption or rejection, at the next election of mem¬ 
bers of the General Assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed 
by law. The proposed amendments shall be published in full at 
least three months preceding the election, and if a majority of the 
electors voting at said election shall vote for the proposed amend¬ 
ments, they shall become a part of this Constitution. But the General 
Assembly shall have no power to propose amendments to more than 
one article of this Constitution at the same session, nor to the same 
article oftener than once in four years. 

SECTIONS SEPARATELY SUBMITTED 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD 

No contract, obligation or liability whatever, of the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company, to pay any money into the state treasury, 


260 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


nor any lien of the state upon, or right to tax property of said com¬ 
pany, in accordance* with the provisions of the charter of said com¬ 
pany, approved February tenth, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-one, shall ever be released, suspended, modi¬ 
fied, altered, remitted, or in any manner diminished or impaired by 
legislative or other authority; and all moneys derived from said 
company, after the payment of the state debt, shall be appropriated 
and set apart for the payment of the ordinary expenses of the state 
government, and for no other purposes whatever. 

MINORITY REPRESENTATION 

(See Sections 7 and 8, Article IV) 

MUNICIPAL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO RAILROADS OR PRIVATE CORPORATIONS 

No county, city, town, township, or other municipality shall ever 
become subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or private 
corporation, or make donation to or loan its credit in aid of such 
corporation: Provided, however, that the adoption of this article 
shall not be construed as affecting the right of any such munici¬ 
pality to make such subscriptions where the same have been author¬ 
ized, under existing laws, by a vote of the people of such munici¬ 
palities prior to such adoption. 

CANAL 

The Illinois and Michigan Canal, or other canal or waterway 
owned by the state, shall never be sold or leased until the specific 
proposition for the sale or lease thereof shall first have been sub¬ 
mitted to a vote of the people of the state at a general election, and 
have been approved by a majority of all the votes polled at such 
election. The General Assembly shall never loan the credit of the 
state, or make appropriations from the treasury thereof, in aid of 
railroads or canals: Provided, that any surplus earnings of any 
canal, waterway, or water power may be appropriated or pledged 
for its enlargement, maintenance or extension: And, provided, fur¬ 
ther, that the General Assembly may, by suitable legislation, pro¬ 
vide for the construction of a deep waterway or canal from the 
present water power plant of the Sanitary District of Chicago, at 
or near Lockport, in the Township of Lockport, in the County of 
Will, to a point in the Illinois River at or near Utica, which may be 
practical for a general plan and scheme of deep waterway along 
a route, which may be deemed most advantageous for such plan 


APPENDIX 


261 


of deep waterway, and for the erection, equipment and maintenance 
of power plants, locks, bridges, dams and appliances sufficient and 
suitable for the development and utilization of the water power 
thereof; and authorize the issue, from time to time, of bonds of 
this state in a total amount not to exceed twenty million dollars, 
which shall draw interest, payable semi-annually, at a rate not to 
exceed four per cent, per annum, the proceeds whereof may be 
applied as the General Assembly may provide, in the construction of 
said waterway and in the erection, equipment, and maintenance* of 

said power plants, locks, bridges, dams, and appliances. 

All power developed from said waterway may be leased in part 
or in whole, as the General Assembly may by law provide; but in 
the event of any lease being so executed, the rental specified 

therein for water power shall be subject to a re-valuation each 

ten years of the term created, and the income therefrom shall be 
paid into the treasury of the state. 

SCHEDULE 

That no inconvenience may arise from the alterations and amend¬ 
ments made in the Constitution of this state, and to carry the same 
into complete effect, it is hereby ordained and declared: 

SECTION i. That all laws in force at the adoption of this 
Constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prose¬ 
cutions, claims and contracts of the state, individuals, or bodies cor¬ 
porate, shall continue to be as valid as if this Constitution had not 
been adopted. , 

SEC. 2. That all fines, taxes, penalties and forfeitures, due and 
owing to the State of Illinois under the present Constitution and 
laws, shall inure to the use of the people of the State of Illinois, 
under this Constitution. 

SEC. 3. Recognizances, bonds, obligations, and all other instru¬ 
ment's entered into or executed before the adoption of this Constitu¬ 
tion, to the people of the State of Illinois, to any state or county 
officer or public body, shall remain binding and valid; and. rights and 
liabilities upon the same shall continue, and all crimes and mis¬ 
demeanors shall be tried and punished as though no change had 
been made in the Constitution of this state. 

SEC. 4. County Courts for the transaction of county business in 
counties not having adopted township organization, shall continue 
in existence, and exercise their present jurisdiction until the board 
of county commissioners provided in this Constitution, is organized 


262 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly; and the county 
courts in all other counties shall have the same power and juris¬ 
diction they now possess until otherwise provided by law. 

SEC. 5. All existing courts which are not in this Constitution 
specifically enumerated, shall continue in existence and exercise their 
present jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law. 

SEC. 6. All persons now filling any office of appointment shall 
continue in the exercise of the duties thereof according to their 
respective commissions, or appointments, unless by this Constitution 
it is otherwise directed. 

[Sections 7 to 17, inclusive, providing for the submission of this 
Constitution to the people, became inoperative by its adoption, and 
are consequently omitted.] 

SEC. 18. All laws of the State of Illinois, and all official writ¬ 
ings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall 
be conducted, preserved and published in no other than the English 
language. 

SEC. 19. The General Assembly shall pass all laws necessary to 
carry into effect the provisions of this Constitution. 

SEC. 20. The circuit clerks of the different counties, having a 
population over sixty thousand, shall continue to be recorders (ex- 
officio) for their respective counties, under this Constitution, until 
the expiration of their respective terms. 

SEC. 21. The judges of all courts of record in Cook County 
shall, in lieu of any salary provided for in this Constitution, receive 
the compensation now provided by law until the adjournment of the 
first session of the General Assembly after the adoption of this 
Constitution. 

SEC. 22. The present judge of the circuit court of Cook County 
shall continue to hold the circuit court of Lake County until other¬ 
wise provided by law. 

SEC. 23. When this Constitution shall be adopted, and take 
effect as the supreme law of the State of Illinois, the two-mill tax 
provided to be annually assessed and collected upon each dollar’s 
worth of taxable property, in addition to all other taxes, as set forth 
in article fifteen of the now existing Constitution, shall ce'as^ to be 
assessed after the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy. 

SEC. 24. Nothing contained in this Constitution shall be con¬ 
strued as to deprive the General Assembly of power to authorize the 
City of Quincy to create any indebtedness for railroad or municipal 


APPENDIX 


263 


purposes for which the people of said city shall have voted, and to 
which they shall have given, by such vote, their assent, prior to the 
thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-nine: Provided, that no such indebtedness, 
so created, shall, in any part thereof, be paid by the state, or from 
any state revenue tax or fund, but the same sliall be paid, if at 
all, by the said City of Quincy alone, and by taxes to be levied upon 
the taxable property thereof: And provided, further, that the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly shall have no power in the premises that it could not 
exercise under the present Constitution of this State. 

SEC. 25. In case this Constitution and the articles and sections 
submitted separately, be adopted, the existing Constitution shall cease 
in' all its provisions; and in case this Constitution be adopted, and 
any one or more of the articles or sections submitted separately be 
defeated, the provisions of the existing Constitution, if any, on the 
same subject, shall remain in force. 

SEC. 26. The provisions of this Constitution required to be exe¬ 
cuted prior to the adoption or rejection thereof, shall take effect and 
be in force immediately. 

CONVICT LABOR 

Hereafter, it shall be unlawful for the commissioners of any 
penitentiary, or other reformatory institution in the State of Illinois, 
to let by contract to any person or persons, or corporations, the labor 
of any convict confined within said institution. 


THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 


The measure for the Consolidation of the state agencies under 
the direction of the Governor was passed by the Fiftieth General 
Assembly March 1, 1917. Governor Frank O. Lowden signed it 
upon presentation to him and it became a law July 1, 1917. The 
measure in full follows: 

An Act in relation to the civil administration of the state govern¬ 
ment, and to repeal certain acts therein named. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS 

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly: This Act shall be known as 
“The Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.” 

SEC. 2. The word “department,” as used in this Act, shall, unless 
the context otherwise clearly indicates, mean the several departments 
of the state government as designated in Section 3 of this Act and 
none other. 

SEC. 3. Departments of the state government are created as 
follows: 

The Department of Finance; 

The Department of Agriculture; 

The Department of Labor; 

The Department of Mines and Minerals; 

The Department of Public Works and Buildings; 

The Department of Public Welfare; 

The Department of Public Health; 

The Department of Trade and Commerce; 

The Department of Registration and Education. 

SEC. 4. Each Department shall have an officer at its head who shall 
be known as a director, and who shall, subject to the provisions of 
this Act, execute the powers and discharge the duties vested by law 
in his respective department. 


264 



APPENDIX 


265 


The following offices are hereby created: 

Director of Finance, for the Department of Finance; 

Director of Agriculture, for the Department of Agriculture; 
Director of Labor, for the Department of Labor; 

Director of Mines and Minerals, for the Department of Mines 
and Minerals: 

Director of Public Works and Buildings, for the Department 
of Public Works and Buildings; 

Director of Public Welfare, for the Department of Public 
Welfare; 

Director of Public Health, for the Department of Public 
Health; 

Director of Trade and Commerce, for the Department of 
Trade and Commerce; 

Director of Registration and Education, for the Department 
of Registration and Education. 

SEC. 5. In addition to the directors of departments, the following 
executive and administrative officers, boards, and commissions, which 
said officers, boards, and commissions in the respective departments, 
shall hold offices hereby created and designated as follows: 

In the Department of Finance: 

Assistant Director of Finance; 

Administrative Auditor; 

Superintendent of Budget; 

Superintendent of Department Reports. 

In the Department of Agriculture: 

Assistant Director of Agriculture; 

General Manager of the State Fair; 

Superintendent of Foods and Dairies; 

Superintendent of Animal Industry; 

Superintendent of Plant Industry; 

Chief Veterinarian; 

Chief Game and Fish Warden; 

The Food Standard Commission, which shall consist of the 
superintendent of foods and dairies and two officers designated 
as food standard officers. 

In the Department of Labor: 

Assistant Director of Labor; 

Chief Factory Inspector; 

Superintendent of Free Employment Offices; 


266 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


Chief Inspector of Private Employment Agencies; 

The Industrial Commission which shall consist of five officers 
designated industrial officers. 

In the Department of Mines and Minerals: 

Assistant Director of Mines and Minerals; 

The Mining Board, which shall consist of four officers designated 
as mine officers and the Director of the Department of Mines 
and Minerals; 

The Miners’ Examining Board, which shall consist of four 
officers, designated miners’ examining officers. 

In the Department of Public Works and Buildings: 

Assistant Director of Public Works and Buildings; 
Superintendent of Highways; 

Chief Highway Engineer; 

Supervising Architect; 

Supervising Engineer; 

Superintendent of Waterways; 

Superintendent of Printing; 

Superintendent of Purchases and Supplies; 

Superintendent of Parks. 

In the Department of Public Welfare: 

Assistant Director of Public Welfare; 

Alienist; 

Criminologist; 

Fiscal Supervisor; 

Superintendent of Charities; 

Superintendent of Prisons; 

Superintendent of Pardons and Paroles. 

In the Department of Public Health: 

Assistant Director of Public Health; 

Superintendent of Lodging House Inspection. 

In the Department of Trade and Commerce: 

Assistant Director of Trade and Commerce; 

Superintendent of Insurance; 

Fire Marshal; 

Superintendent of Standards; 

Chief Grain Inspector; 

The Public Utilities Commission, which shall consist of five 
officers designated public utility commissioners; 

Secretary of the Public Utilities Commission. 


APPENDIX 


267 


In the Department of Registration and Education: 

Assistant Director of Registration and Education; 

Superintendent of Registration; 

The Normal School Board, which shall consist of nine officers, 
together with the Director of the Department and the Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction. 

The above named officers, and each of them, shall, except as 
otherwise provided in this Act, be under the direction, supervision, 
and control of the director of their respective departments, and 
shall perform such duties as such director shall prescribe. 

SEC. 6. Advisory and non-executive boards, in the respective 
departments, are created as follows: 

In the Department of Agriculture: 

A board of agricultural advisors, composed of fifteen persons, 
and a board of state fair advisors consisting of nine persons, 
not more than three of whom shall be appointed from any 
one county. 

In the Department of Labor: 

A board of Illinois free employment office advisors, composed 
of five persons; 

A board of local Illinois free employment office advisors, for 
each free employment office, composed of five persons on each 
local board. 

In the Department of Public Works: 

A board of art advisors, composed of eight persons; 

A board of water resource advisors, composed of five persons; 

A board of highway advisors, composed of five persons; 

A board of parks and buildings advisors, composed of five 
persons. 

In the Department of Public Welfare: 

A board of public welfare commissioners, composed of five 
persons. 

In the Department of Public Health: 

A board of public health advisors, composed of five persons. 

In the Department of Registration and Education: 

A board of natural resources and conservation advisors, com¬ 
posed of seven persons; 

A board of state museum advisors, composed of five persons; 

The members of each of the above named boards shall be officers. 


268 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


SEC. 7. One food standard officer shall be a representative of the 
Illinois food manufacturing industries and the other shall be an 
expert food chemist of known reputation. 

The fifteen agricultural advisors shall be persons engaged in 
agricultural industries, not excluding representatives of the agri¬ 
cultural press and of the State Agricultural Experiment Station. 

Of the five industrial officers, two shall be representative citizens 
of the employing class operating under the Workman’s Compensa¬ 
tion Act, two shall be representative citizens chosen from among 
the employees operating under such Act, and the other shall be 
a representative citizen not identified with either the employing or 
employee classes. 

Of the five Illinois free employment office advisors, two shall be 
representatives of employers, two representatives of organized labor, 
and one representative citizen who is neither an employer nor an 
employee. 

The five local Illinois free employment office advisors shall have 
the same qualifications as the Illinois free employment office advisors. 

The Director of Mines and Minerals shall be a person thoroughly 
conversant with the theory and practice of coal mining but who is 
not identified with either coal operators or coal miners. Of the 
four mine officers, two shall be coal operators and two shall be 
practical coal miners. 

Each of the three miners’ examining officers shall have had at 
least five years’ practical and continuous experience as a coal miner 
and have been actually engaged as a coal miner in this state con¬ 
tinuously for twelve months next preceding his appointment, and 
no one of whom shall hold any lucrative public office, Federal, State, 
or municipal. 

Of the eight art. commissioners, two shall be painters, two sculp¬ 
tors, two architects, and two neither painters, sculptors, nor archi¬ 
tects. 

The Director of Public Health shall be a person licensed to 
practice medicine and surgery in this state and shall have had at 
least five years’ practical experience in the practice of medicine and 
surgery in this state and at least six years’ practical experience in 
public health work. 

The Assistant Director of Public Health shall be a person 
licensed to practice medicine and sflrgery in this state and shall 
have had at least five years’ practical experience in the practice of 


APPENDIX 


269 


medicine and surgery in this state and at least three years’ practical 
experience in public health work. 

No public utility commissioner or employee of the Public Utility 
Commission shall be in the employ of or hold any official relation 
to any corporation or person subject' in whole or in part to regular 
tion by the commission nor shall he hold stocks or bonds in any 
such corporation or be in any other manner pecuniarily interested 
therein, directly or indirectly, and if any public utility commissioner 
or employee shall voluntarily become so interested, his office or 
■employment shall ipso facto become vacant, and if any public utility 
commissioner or employee becomes so interested otherwise than 
voluntarily he shall, within a reasonable time, divest himself of 
such interest. 

The Chief Grain Inspector shall be a person who is not interested, 
cither ^directly or indirectly, in any warehouse in this state, and 
who is not a member of, the Board of Trade. 

Neither the director, assistant director, superintendent of reg¬ 
istration, nor any other executive and administrative officer in the 
Department of Registration and Education shall be affiliated with 
any college or school of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, 
optometry, embalming, barbering, veterinary medicine and surgery, 
architecture, or structural engineering, either as teacher, officer or 
stockholder, nor shall he hold a license or certificate to exercise or 
practice any of the professions, trades or occupations regulated. 

No more than two members of the Normal School Board shall 
be residents of any one congressional district. 

The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation shall be com¬ 
posed of the Director of Registration and Education, who shall be 
ex officio chairman thereof, the president of the University of 
Illinois or his representative, and one expert each in biology, 
geology, engineering, chemistry, and forestry, qualified by ten years’ 
experience in practicing or teaching their several professions. 

The board of state museum advisors shall be composed of one 
expert each in botany, ethnology, zoology, manufacture, and museum 
administration. 

SEC. 8. Each advisory and non-executive board, except as other¬ 
wise expressly provided in this Act, shall, with respect to its field of 
work, or that of the department with which it 4s associated, have 
the following powers and duties: 


270 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


1 . To consider and study the entire field; to advise the execu¬ 
tive officers of the department upon their request; to recommend, 
on its own initiative, policies and practices, which recommendations 
the executive officers of the department shall duly consider/ and 
to give advice or make recommendations to the Governor and the 
General Assembly when so requested or on its own initiative. 

2. To investigate the conduct of the work of the department 
with which it may be associated, and for this purpose to have access, 
at any time, to all books, papers, documents, and records pertaining 
or belonging thereto, and to require written or oral information 
from any officer or employee thereof. 

3. To adopt rules, not inconsistent with law, for its internal 
control and management, a copy of which rules shall be filed with 
the director of the department with which such board is associated. 

4. To hold meetings at such times and places as may be pre¬ 
scribed by the rules, not less frequently, however, than quarterly. 

5. To act by a sub-committee, or by a majority of the board, 
if the rules so prescribe. 

6 . To keep minutes of the transactions of each session, regular 
or special, which shall be public records and filed with the director 
of the department. 

7. To give notice to the Governor and to the director of the 
department with which it is associated of the time and place of 
every meeting, regular or special, and to permit the Governor and 
the director of the department to be present and to be heard upon 
any matter coming before such board. 

SEC. 9. The executive and administrative officers whose offices are 
created by this Act shall receive annual salaries, payable in equal 
monthly installments, as follows: 

In the Department of Finance: 

The Director of Finance shall receive seven thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Finance shall receive forty-two hun~ 
dred dollars; 

The Administrative Auditor shall receive forty-eight hundred 
dollars; 

The Superintendent of Budget shall receive three thousand six 
hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Department Reports shall receive thirty- 
six hundred dollars. 


APPENDIX 


m 


In the Department of Agriculture: 

The Director of Agriculture shall receive six thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Agriculture shall receive thirty-six 
hundred dollars; 

The General Manager of the State Fair shall receive thirty-six 
hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Foods and Dairies shall receive forty- 
eight hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Animal Industry shall receive thirty-six 
hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Plant Industry shall receive thirty-six 
hundred dollars; 

The Chief Veterinarian shall receive forty-two hundred dollars; 

The Chief Game and Fish Warden shall receive three thousand 
six hundred dollars; 

Each food standard officer shall receive four hundred and fifty 
dollars. 

In the Department of Labor: 

The Director of Labor shall receive five thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Labor shall receive three thousand 
dollars; 

The Chief Factory Inspector shall receive three thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Free Employment offices shall receive 
three thousand dollars; 

The Chief Inspector of Private Employment agencies shall re¬ 
ceive three thousand dollars; 

Each Industrial Officer shall receive five thousand dollars. 

In the Department of Mines and Minerals: 

The Director of Mines and Minerals shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Mines and Minerals shall receive three 
thousand dollars; 

Each mine officer shall receive five hundred dollars; 

Each miners’ examining officer shall receive one thousand eight 
hundred dollars. 

In the Department of Public Works and Buildings: 

The Director of Public Works and Buildings shall receive seven 
thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Public Works and buildings shall 
receive four thousand dollars; 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


270 

The Superintendent of Highways shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Chief Highway Engineer shall receive five thousand dollars; 

The Supervising Architect shall receive four thousand dollars; 

The Supervising Engineer shall receive four thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Waterways shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Superintendent of Printing shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Superintendent of Purchases and Supplies shall receive five 
thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Parks shall receive twenty-five hundred 
dollars. 

In the Department of Public Welfare: 

The Director of Public Welfare shall receive seven thousand 
dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Public Welfare shall receive four 
thousand dollars; 

The Alienist shall receive five thousand dollars; 

The Criminologist shall receive five thousand dollars; 

The Fiscal Supervisor shall receive five thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Charities shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Superintendent of Prisons shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 

The Superintendent of Pardons and Paroles shall receive five 
thousand dollars. 

In the Department of Public Health: 

The Director of Public Health shall receive six thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Public Health shall receive three thou¬ 
sand six hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Lodging House Inspection three thousand 
dollars. 

In the Department of Trade and Commerce: 

The Director of Trade and Commerce shall receive seven thou¬ 
sand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Trade and Commerce shall receive 
four thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Insurance shall receive five thousand 
dollars; 


APPENDIX 


273 


The Fire Marshal shall receive three thousand dollars; 

The Superintendent of Standards shall receive twenty-five hun¬ 
dred dollars*; 

The Chief Grain Inspector shall receive five thousand dollars; 

Each public utility commissioner shall receive seven thousand 
dollars; 

The Secretary of the Public Utilities Commission shall receive 
four thousand dollars. 

In the Department of Registration and Education: 

The Director of Registration and Education shall receive five 
thousand dollars; 

The Assistant Director of Registration and Education shall 
receive three thousand six hundred dollars; 

The Superintendent of Registration shall receive four thousand 
two hundred dollars. 

SEC. 10. No member of an advisory and non-executive board 
shall receive any compensation. 

SEC. 11. Each executive and administrative officer, except the two 
food standard officers, the members of the Mining Board, and the 
members of the Normal School Board shall devote his entire time 
to the duties of his office and shall hold no other office or position 
of profit. 

SEC. 12. Each officer whose office is created by this Act shall be 
appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate. In any case of vacancy in such offices during the 
recess of the Senate, the Governor shall make a temporary appoint¬ 
ment until the next meeting of the Senate, when he shall nominate 
some person to fill such office; and any person so nominated, who 
is confirmed by the Senate, shall hold his office during the remainder 
of the term and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. 
If the Senate is not in session at the time this Act takes effect, the 
Governor shall make a temporary appointment as in case of a 
vacancy. 

SEC. 13. Each officer whose office is created by this Act, except as 
otherwise specifically provided for in this Act, shall hold office for 
a term of four years from the second Monday in January next 
after the election of a Governor, and until his successor is appointed 
and qualified. 

Three members of the Normal School Board first appointed shall 
hold office until the second Monday in January, A. D. 1919, three 


274 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


until the second Monday in January, A. D. 1921, and three untiJ\ 
the second Monday in January, A. D. 1923. After the expiration of 
the terms of office of those first appointed, their respective successors 
shall hold office for a term of six years. 

SEC. 14. Each officer whose office is created by this Act shall, 
before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath of office, which shall be filed in the office of the 
Secretary of State. 

SEC. 15. Each executive and administrative officer whose office is 
created by this Act shall, before entering upon the discharge of the 
duties of his office, give bond, with security to be approved by the 
Governor, in such penal sum as shall be fixed by the Governor, not 
less in any case than ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the 
faithful performance of his duties, which bond shall be filed in 
the office of the Secretary of State. 

SEC. 16. The director of each department is empowered to pre¬ 
scribe regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the government 
of his department, the conduct of its employees and clerks, the 
distribution and performance of its business, and the custody, use, 
and preservation of the records, papers, books, documents, and 
property pertaining thereto. 

SEC. 17. Each department shall maintain a central office in the 
capitol building at Springfield, in rooms provided by the Secretary 
of State. The director of each department may, in his discretion 
and with the approval of the Governor, establish and maintain, at 
places other than the seat of government, branch offices for the 
conduct of any one or more functions of his department. 

SEC. 18. Each department shall be open for the transaction of 
public business at least from eight-thirty o’clock in the morning 
until five o’clock in the evening of each day except Sundays and 
days declared by the negotiable instrument Act to be holidays. 

SEC. 19. Each department shall adopt and keep an official seal. 

SEC. 20. Each department is empowered to employ, subject to civil 
service laws in force at the time the employment is made, necessary 
employees, and, if the rate of compensation is not otherwise fixed 
by law, to fix their compensation. 

SEC. 21. All employees in the several departments shall render 
not less than seven and one-half hours of labor each day, Saturday 
afternoons, Sundays, and days declared by the negotiable instrument 


APPENDIX 


275 


Act to be holidays excepted in cases in which, in the judgment of 
the director, the public service will not thereby be impaired. 

SEC. 22. Each employee in the several departments shall be entitled 
during each calendar year to fourteen days’ leave of absence with 
full pay. In special and meritorious cases where to limit the annual 
leave to fourteen days in any one calendar year would work peculiar 
hardship, it may, in the discretion of the director of the department, 
be extended. 

SEC. 23. No employee in the several departments, employed at a 
fixed compensation, shall be paid for any extra services, unless 
expressly authorized by law. 

SEC. 24. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to amend, modify, 
or repeal the state civil service law, or to extend the application 
thereof to any position created by this act where the duties to be 
performed under such position do not now exist or are now per¬ 
formed by an officer or employee not in the classified civil service 
of the state. Every officer and employee in the classified civil 
service at the time this Act takes effect shall be assigned to a posi¬ 
tion in the proper department created by this Act, having, so far as 
possible, duties equivalent to his former office or employment, and 
such officers and employees shall be employees of the state in* the 
classified civil service of the state, of the same standing, grade, 
and privileges which they respectively had in the office, board, com¬ 
mission or institution from which they were transferred, subject, 
however, to existing and future civil service laws. This section 
shall not be construed to require the retention of more employees 
than are necessary to the proper performance of the functions of 
the departments. 

SEC. 25. Each director of a department shall annually on or before 
the first day of December, and at such other times as the Governor 
may require, report in writing to the Governor concerning the 
condition, management, and financial transactions of their respective 
departments. In addition to such reports, each director of a depart¬ 
ment shall make the semi-annual and biennial reports provided by 
the Constitution. The departments shall make annual and biennial 
reports at the time prescribed in this section, and at no other time. 

SEC. 26. The directors of departments shall devise a practical and 
working basis for cooperation and coordination of work, eliminating 
duplication and overlapping of functions. They shall, so far as 
practicable, cooperate with each other in the employment of services 


276 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


and the use of quarters and equipment. The director of any depart¬ 
ment may empower or require an employee of another department, 
subject to the consent of the superior officer of the employee, to 
perform any duty which he might require of his own subordinates. 

SEC. 27. The gross amount of money received by every department, 
from whatever source, belonging to or for the use of the state, shall 
be paid into the state treasury, without delay, not later in any event 
than ten days after the receipt of the same, without any deduction 
on account of salaries, fees, costs, charges, expenses or claim of 
any description whatever. No money belonging to, or for the use 
of, the state shall be expended or applied by any department except 
in consequence of an appropriation made by law and upon the war¬ 
rant of the Auditor of Public Accounts. 

SEC. 28. In the construction of buildings for the various depart¬ 
ments, or in doing other construction work in or about buildings 
and grounds, exceeding the estimated value of one thousand dollars, 
contracts therefor shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder. 
Supplies for the several departments, except in cases of emergency 
and in the case of perishable goods, shall be purchased in large 
quantities and contracts therefor shall be let to the lowest respons¬ 
ible bidder. Advertisements for bids for doing such construction 
work, or furnishing such supplies, shall be published for at least 
three days, the first and last of which publications shall be at least 
ten days apart, in one or more newspapers of general circulation 
published in each of the seven largest cities of the state determined 
by the then last preceding Federal Census, and, also, in one secular 
English newspaper selected by the Department of Public Works and 
Buildings by competitive bidding in the same manner as it is herein 
provided other contracts may be let and designated as an “official 
newspaper,” which newspaper so selected shall continue to be the 
official newspaper for a period of one year from the time of its 
selection. The proposals shall be publicly opened on the day and 
hour and at the place mentioned in the advertisement and any and 
all bids may be rejected and when rejected a re-advertisement shall 
be made in the manner above provided. 

SEC 29. All supplies of fuel purchased for the departments shall 
be let by contract to the lowest bidder. Advertisements for bids 
shall be published for at least ten days in one or more of the daily 
newspapers of general circulation published in each of the seven 
largest cities of the state, determined by the then last preceding 


APPENDIX 


277 


Federal Census. The officer authorized by law to make con-tracts 
for fuel shall prescribe rules and regulations to be observed in the 
preparation, submission, and opening of bids. All contracts for fuel 
shall be made subject to the approval of the Governor. 

SEC. 30. The price paid for fuel shall not exceed the following: 

For anthracite coal, twelve dollars per ton; 

For Pennsylvania bituminous, Pocahontas, and West Virginia 
smokeless, eastern Kentucky and Ohio coals, all of the 
bituminous type, nine dollars per ton; 

For Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa 
coals, all of the bituminous type, seven dollars per ton; 

For any other coal of the bituminous type, seven dollars per 
ton. 

SEC. 31. Whenever in this Act power is vested in a department to 
inspect, examine, secure data or information, or to procure assist¬ 
ance from another department, a duty is hereby imposed upon the 
department upon which demand is made, to make such power 
effective. 

SEC. 32. Whenever rights, powers, and duties, which have hereto¬ 
fore been vested in or exercised by any officer, board, commission, 
institution or department, or any deputy, inspector or subordinate 
officer thereof, are, by this Act, transferred, either in whole or in 
part, to or vested in a department created by this Act, such rights, 
powers, and duties shall be vested in, and shall be exercised by, the 
department to which the same are hereby transferred, and not 
otherwise, and every act done in the exercise of such rights, powers, 
and duties shall have the same legal effect as if done by the former 
officer, board, commission, institution or department, or any deputy, 
inspector or subordinate officer thereof. Every person and corpora¬ 
tion shall be subject to the same obligations and duties and shall 
have the same rights arising from the exercise of such rights, 
powers, and duties as if such rights, powers, and duties were exer¬ 
cised by the officer, board, commission, department or institution, 
or deputy, inspector or subordinate thereof, designated in the 
respective laws which are to be administered by departments created 
by this Act. Every person and corporation shall be subject to the 
same penalty or penalties, civil or criminal, for failure to perform 
any such obligation or duty, or for doing a prohibited act, as if 
such obligation or duty arose from, or such act were prohibited in, 
the exercise of such right, power or duty by the officer, board, com- 


278 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


mission, or institution, or deputy, inspector or subordinate thereof, 
designated in the respective laws which are to be administered by 
departments created by this Act. Every officer and employee shall, 
for any offense, be subject to the same penalty or penalties* civil 
or criminal, as are prescribed by existing law for the same offense 
by any officer or employee whose powers or duties devolved upon 
him under this Act. All books, records, papers, documents, prop¬ 
erty, real and personal, unexpended appropriations, and pending 
business in any way pertaining to the rights, powers, and duties so 
transferred to or vested in a department created by this Act, shall 
be delivered and transferred to the department succeeding to such 
rights, powers, and duties. 

SEC. 33. Wherever reports or notices are now required to be made 
or given, or papers or documents furnished or served by any person 
to or upon any officer, board, commission, or institution, or deputy, 
inspector or subordinate thereof, abolished by this Act, the same 
shall be made, given, furnished, or served in the same manner to 
or upon the department upon which are devolved by this Act the 
rights, powers, and duties now exercised or discharged by such 
officer, board, commission, or institution, or deputy, inspector or sub¬ 
ordinate thereof; and every penalty for failure so to do shall con¬ 
tinue in effect. 

SEC. 34. This Act shall not affect any act done, ratified or con- 
firme4 or any right accrued or established, or any action or proceed¬ 
ing had or commenced in a civil or criminal cause before this Act 
takes effect; but such actions or proceedings may be prosecuted 
and continued by the department having jurisdiction, under this 
Act, of the subject matter to which such litigation or proceeding 
pertains. 

SEC. 35. The following offices, boards, commissions, arms, and 
agencies of the State government heretofore created by law, are 
hereby abolished, viz: Superintendent of Printing, Board of Live 
Stock Commissioners, secretary of the board of live stock com¬ 
missioners; State Veterinarian, Board of Veterinary Examiners, 
Stallion Registration Board, secretary of the stallion registration 
board, Board of Examiners of Horseshoers, secretary of the board 
of examiners of horseshoers, State Inspector of Apiaries, State 
Game and Fish Commission, game and fish wardens, deputy game 
and fish wardens, advisory board of managers of free employment 
offices, local boards of managers of free employment offices, general 


APPENDIX 


279 


superintendent of free employment offices in each city having a pop¬ 
ulation of one million or over, department superintendent of free 
employment offices in each city having a population of one million 
or over, assistant department superintendents of free employment 
offices in each city having a population of one million or over, 
clerks of free employment offices in free employment offices in each 
city having a population of one million or over, superintendent of 
free employment offices in cities of less than one million population, 
assistant superintendents of free employment offices in cities of less 
than one million population, clerks of free employment offices in 
cities of less than one million population, chief inspector of private 
employment agencies, assistant inspectors of private employment 
agencies, chief State Factory Inspector, assistant chief factory in¬ 
spector, physician for chief State factory inspector, deputy factory 
inspectors, State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation, secretary 
of the State board of arbitration and conciliation, the Industrial 
Board, secretary of the industrial board, State Mining Board, chief 
clerk of the State mining board, State mine inspectors, miners’ 
examining commissioners, constituting the miners’ examining board, 
Mine Fire Fighting and Rescue Station Commission, Superintend¬ 
ents of mine fire fighting and rescue stations, assistant superintend¬ 
ents of mine fire fighting and rescue stations, State Highway 
Department, the State Highway Commission, chief State Highway 
Engineer, assistant State highway engineer, the canal commissioners, 
rivers and lakes commission, Illinois Waterways Commission, 
Illinois Park Commission, Fort Massac Trustees, Lincoln Home¬ 
stead Trustees, Board of Commissioners of and for the Lincoln 
Monument and Grounds, State Board of Examiners of Architects, 
State Board of Examiners of Structural Engineers, secretary 
of the State board of examiners of structural engineers, secre¬ 
tary-treasurer of the State board of examiners of architects, 
State Inspector of Masonry, Public Buildings and Works, assistant 
State inspectors of masonry, public buildings and works, the Board 
of Administration, State Deportation Agent, assistant State deporta¬ 
tion agent, State Agent for Visitation of Children placed in family 
homes, commissioners of the Illinois State Penitentiary, warden of 
the Illinois State Penitentiary, deputy warden of the Illinois State 
Penitentiary, chaplains of the Illinois State Penitentiary, physician 
of the Illinois State Penitentiary, steward of the Illinois State Peni¬ 
tentiary, matron of the Illinois State Penitentiary, the commissioners 


280 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, warden of the Southern Illi¬ 
nois Penitentiary, deputy warden of the Southern Illinois Peniten¬ 
tiary, chaplains of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, physician of 
the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, steward of the Southern Illinois 
Penitentiary, matron of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, board 
of managers of Illinois State Reformatory, general superintendent 
of the Illinois State Reformatory, chaplain of the Illinois State 
Reformatory, physician of the Illinois State Reformatory, the Board 
of Prison Industries of Illinois, the Board of Classification, Board 
of Pardons, clerk of the board of pardons, stenographer of the 
board of pardons, State Board of Health, secretary and executive 
officer of the State board of health, Board of Pharmacy, secretary 
of the board of pharmacy, Illinois State Board of Dental Examiners, 
secretary of the Illinois State board of dental examiners, Illinois 
State Board of Nurse Examiners, secretary of the Illinois State 
board of nurse examiners, State Board of Optometry, secretary of 
the State board of optometry, Board of Barber Examiners, secretary 
and treasurer of the board of barber examiners, State Food 
Commissioner, assistant State food commissioner, State Analyst, 
chief clerk of the State food commissioner, assistant clerk of the 
State food commissioner, stenographers of the State food com¬ 
missioners, inspectors of the State food commissioner,'bacteriologist 
of the State food commissioner, analytical chemist of the State 
food .commissioner, laboratory janitor for the food commissioner, 
Food Standard Commission, State Public Utilities Commission, 
secretary of the State public utilities commission, Chief Inspector 
of Grain, deputy grain inspectors, deputy chief inspector of grain 
of the East St. Louis district, Warehouse Registrar, assistant ware¬ 
house registrars, State weighmasters, registrar of the grain inspec¬ 
tion department, inspectors of automatic couplers, power brakes, 
and grab irons or hand holds on railroad locomotives, tenders, 
cars, and similar vehicles, Insurance Superintendent, State Fire 
Marshal, first deputy State fire marshal, second deputy State fire 
marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, deputy State fire marshals, 
assistant fire marshals, the Board of Education of the State of 
Illinois, board of trustees of the Southern Illinois Normal Univer¬ 
sity, board of trustees of the Northern Illinois State Normal School, 
board of trustees of the Eastern Illinois State Normal Schooh, and 
the board of trustees of the Western Illinois State Normal School 


APPENDIX 


281 


THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE 

SEC. 36. The Department of Finance shall have power: 

1. To prescribe and require the installation of a uniform system 
of bookkeeping, accounting, and reporting for the several depart¬ 
ments ; 

2. To prescribe forms for accounts and financial reports and 
statements for the several departments; 

3. To supervise and examine the accounts and expenditures of 
the several departments; 

4. To examine, at any and all times, into the accuracy and 
legality of the accounts, receipts, and expenditures of the public 
moneys and the disposition and use of the public property by the 
.several departments; 

5. To keep s\ich summary and controlling accounts as may be 
necessary to determine the accuracy of the detail accounts and 
reports from the several departments, and to prescribe the manner 
and method of certifying that funds are available and adequate to 
meet all contracts and obligations; 

6 . To prescribe uniform rules governing specifications for pur¬ 
chases of supplies, the advertisement for proposals, the opening of 
bids and the making of awards, to keep a catalogue of prices cur¬ 
rent, and to analyze and tabulate prices paid and quantities pur¬ 
chased ; 

7. To examine, at any and all times, the accounts of every 
private corporation, institution, association or board receiving appro¬ 
priations from the General Assembly; 

8 . To report to the Attorney General for such action, civil or 
criminal, as the Attorney General may deem necessary, all facts 
showing illegal expenditures of the public money or misappropria¬ 
tion of the public property; 

9. t To examine and approve, or disapprove, vouchers, bills, and 
claims of the several departments, and such as are by law made 
subject to the approval of the Governor and referred to it by the 
Governor, and no voucher, bill or claim of any department shall 
be allowed without its approval and certificate; 

10. To prescribe the form of receipt, voucher, bill or claim to 
be filed by the several departments with it; 

11. In settling the accounts of the several departments, to 
inquire into and make an inspection of articles and materials 
furnished or work and labor performed, for the purpose of ascer- 


282 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


taining that the prices, quality, and amount of such articles or labor 
are fair, just, and reasonable, and that all the requirements, express 
and implied, pertaining thereto have been complied with, and to 
reject and disallow any excess; 

12. To prepare and report to the Governor, when requested, 
estimates of the income and revenues of the state; 

13. To prepare and submit to the Governor biennially, not 
later than the first day of January preceding the convening of the 
General Assembly, a state budget; 

14. To publish, from time to time, for the information of the 
several departments and of the general public, bulletins of the work 
of the government; 

15. To investigate duplication of work of departments and the 
efficiency of the organization and administration of departments, and 
to formulate plans for the better coordination of departments. 

SEC. 37. In the preparation of a state budget, the Director of 
Finance shall, not later than the fifteenth day of September in the 
year preceding the convening of the General Assembly, distribute 
to all departments and to all offices and institutions of the state 
government (including the elective officers in the executive depart¬ 
ment and including the University of Illinois and the judicial 
department) the proper blanks necessary to the preparation of 
budget estimates, which blanks shall be in such form as shall be 
prescribed by the Director of Finance, to procure, among other 
things, information as to the revenues and expenditures for the two 
preceding fiscal years, the appropriations made by the previous 
General Assembly, the expenditures therefrom, encumbrances there¬ 
on, and the arrtounts unencumbered and unexpended, an estimate of 
the revenues and expenditures of the current fiscal year, and an 
estimate of the revenues and amounts needed for the respective 
departments and offices for the two years next succeeding beginning 
at the expiration of the first fiscal quarter after the adjournment of 
the General Assembly. Each department, office, and institution 
(including the elective officers in the executive and judicial depart¬ 
ments and including the University of Illinois) shall, not later than 
the first day of November, file in the office of the Director of 
Finance its estimates of receipts and expenditures for the succeeding 
biennium. Such estimates shall be accompanied by a statement in 
writing giving facts and explanation of reasons for each item of 
expenditure requested. The Director of Finance may, in his dis- 


APPENDIX 


283 


cretion, make further inquiries and investigations as to any item 
desired. He may approve, disapprove or alter the estimates. He 
shall, on or before the first day of January preceding the convening 
of the General Assembly, submit to the Governor in writing his 
estimates of revenues and appropriations for the next succeeding 
biennium. 

SEC. 38. The Governor; shall as soon as possible and not later than 
four weeks, after the organization of the General Assembly submit 
a state budget, embracing therein the amounts recommended by 
him to be appropriated to the respective departments, offices, and 
institutions, and for all other public purposes, the estimated revenues 
from taxation, the estimated revenues from sources other than 
taxation, and an estimate of the amount required to be raised by 
taxation. Together with such budget the Governor shall transmit 
the estimates of receipts and expenditures as received by the 
Director of Finance, of the elective officers in the executive and 
judicial departments and of the University of Illinois. 

SEC. 39. Each department shall, before an appropriation to such 
department becomes available for expenditure, prepare and submit 
to the Department of Finance an estimate of the amount required 
for each activity to be carried on, and accounts shall be kept and 
reports rendered showing the expenditures for each such purpose. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

SEC. 40. The Department of Agriculture shall have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the Board of Live Stock Commissioners, its officers, and employees, 
except under the Act regulating the practice of veterinary medicine 
and surgery; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Veterinarian, his assistants, and employees; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the Stallion Registration Board, its officers and employees; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Inspector of Apiaries, his assistants, and employees; 

5. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Game and Fish Commission, its wardens, deputy wardens, 
officers, and employees; 

6 . To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Food Commissioner, food standard commission, and the 
other officers and employees of the State Food Department; 


284 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


7. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Entomologist, his officers, and employees; 

8 . To execute and administer the act to prevent fraud in the 
manufacture and sale of commercial fertilizers; 

9. To encourage and promote, in every practicable manner, the 
interests of agriculture, including horticulture, the live stock indus¬ 
try, dairying, cheese making, poultry, bee keeping, forestry, fishing, 
the production of wool, and all other allied industries; 

10. To promote improved methods of conducting these several 
industries with a view to increasing the production and facilitate 
the distribution thereof at the least cost; 

11. To collect and publish statistics relating to crop production 
and marketing, the production of and marketing beef, pork, poultry, 
fish, mutton, wool, butter, cheese, and other agricultural products 
so far as such statistical information may be of value to the agri¬ 
cultural and allied interests of the state; 

12. To encourage the planting of trees and shrubs and the 
improvement of farm homes generally; 

13. To produce and manufacture biological products to be 
distributed to live stock producers at the actual cost thereof; 

14. To inquire into the causes of contagious, infectious, and 
communicable diseases among domestic animals, and the means for 
the prevention and cure of the same; 

15. To take all measures necessary for the preservation, dis¬ 
tribution, introduction, and restoration of fish, game birds, and 
other wild birds; 

16. To be custodian of the state fair grounds, buildings, and 
other property belonging or attached thereto, and to maintain the 
same; 

17. To hold annually a state fair in order to promote improved 
methods of agriculture, to encourage an increased yield of grains, 
grasses, fruits, vegetables, and other crops and the raising of 
improved breeds of live stock and poultry, to acquaint farmers with 
the latest implements and machinery of agriculture, and to encour¬ 
age the manufacture of butter, cheese, and other products of 
agriculture; 

18. To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing 
the holding of the state fair, which rules and regulations shall 
prescribe the kinds and classes of exhibits, the conditions under 
which they shall be received, installed, and cared for, the conditions 


APPENDIX 


285 


under which racing shall be permitted in the fair grounds and the 
rules governing the same, the premiums to be offered and paid, the 
price of admission which shall be charged in all cases except for 
exhibitors and their bona fide employees, all honorably discharged 
soldiers and sailors of the War of the Rebellion, the Spanish- 
American War, the Philippine insurrection, and the Boxer uprising 
in China, and for children under five years of age, the methods by 
which judges of exhibits may be employed, and the manner cer¬ 
tificates* of award shall be prepared and premiums paid; 

19. To police the state fair grounds, to maintain and preserve' 
order thereon, and protect exhibits from theft, injury or destruction; 

20. To assist, encourage, and promote the organization of 
farmers’ institutes, horticultural and agricultural societies, the hold- 
ing of fairs, fat stock shows or other exhibits of the products of 
agriculture; 

21. To investigate and ascertain that moneys appropriated for 
county fairs and farmers’ institutes are faithfully applied to the 
purposes authorized by law; 

22. To see that live stock at stock yards, breweries, distilleries r 
and other like places where live stock are confined, housed or fed,, 
are properly cared for. 

SEC. 41. The Director of Agriculture shall promulgate no stand¬ 
ard of quality, purity and strength of food products for this state - 
except that determined by the Food Standard Commission. 

SEC. 42. The people of the State of Illinois shall succeed to aH 
the right, title, and interest of the State Board of Agriculture in; 
and to the state fair grounds, and to all lands, buildings, money, 
unexpended appropriations or other property connected therewitffi- 

THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

SEC. 43. The Department of Labor shall have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the commissioners of labor, the secretary, other officers and em¬ 
ployees, of said commissioners of labor; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the superintendents and assistant superintendents of free employ¬ 
ment offices, general advisory board of free employment offices, 
local advisory boards of free employment offices, and other officers 
and employees of free employment offices; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law ii* 


286 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the chief inspector of private employment agencies, inspectors of 
private employment agencies, their subordinate officers and em¬ 
ployees ; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the chief factory inspector, assistant chief State factory inspector, 
deputy factory inspector, and all other officers and employees of the 
State factory inspection service; 

5. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 

in the State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation, its officers and 
employees; 0 

6. To exercise the rights, powers and duties vested by law in 
the Industrial Board, its officers, and employees; 

7. To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners; 

8 . To improve working conditions; 

9. To advance opportunities for profitable employment; 

10. To collect, collate, assort, systematize, and report statistical 
details relating to all departments of labor, especially in its relation 
to commercial, industrial, social, educational, and sanitary conditions, 
and to the permanent prosperity of the manufacturing and produc¬ 
tive industries; 

11. To collect, collate, assort, systematize, and report statistical 
details of the manufacturing industries and commerce of the state; 

12. To acquire and diffuse useful information on subjects 
connected with labor in the most general and comprehensive 
sense of that word; 

13. To acquire and diffuse among the people useful informa¬ 
tion concerning the means of promoting the material, social, 
intellectual, and moral prosperity of laboring men and women; 

14. To acquire information and report upon the general con¬ 
dition, so far as production is concerned, of the leading industries 
of the state; 

15. To acquire and diffuse information as to the conditions 
of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value 
to the industrial interests of the state; 

16. To acquire and diffuse information in relation to the 
prevention of accidents, occupational diseases, and other related 
subjects. 

SEC. 44. The Department of Labor shall exercise and discharge 
tr.e rights, powers, and duties vested by law in the Industrial 
Board under an Act entitled, “An Act to promote the general 


APPENDIX 


287 


welfare of the people of this state by providing compensation 
for accidental injuries or death suffered in the course of employ¬ 
ment in this State; providing for the enforcement and admin¬ 
istering thereof, and a penalty for its violation, and repealing 
an Act entitled, ‘An Act to promote the general welfare of the 
people of this State by providing compensation for accidental 
injuries or death suffered in the course of employment,’ approved 
June 10, 1911, in force May 1, 1912,” approved June 28, 1913, in 
force July 1, 1913, or any future amendments thereto or modifica¬ 
tions thereof. 

Said Act and all amendments thereto and modifications 
thereof, if any, shall be administered by the Industrial Com¬ 
mission created by this Act, and in its name, without any direc¬ 
tion, supervision, or control by the Director of Labor. 

The Industrial Commission shall also, in its name and with¬ 
out any direction, supervision or control by the director, admin¬ 
ister the arbitration and conciliation Act. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERALS 

SEC. 45. The Department of Mines and Minerals shall have 
power: 

1 . To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Mining Board, its officers and employees; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the state mine inspectors; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Miners’ Examining Commission, its officers and em¬ 
ployees; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Mine Fire Fighting and Rescue Station Commission, 
superintendents and assistant superintendents, other officers and 
employees of the several mine rescue stations; 

5. To acquire and diffuse information concerning the nature, 
causes, and prevention of mine accidents; 

6 . To acquire and diffuse information concerning the 
improvement of methods, conditions, and equipment of mines, 
with special reference to health, safety, and conservation of 
mineral resources; 


288 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


7. To make inquiries into the economic conditions affecting 
the mining, quarrying, metallurgical, clay, oil, and other mineral 
industries; 

8. To promote the technical efficiency of all persons work¬ 
ing in and about the mines of the state, and to assist them better 
to overcome the increasing difficulties of mining, and for that 
purpose to provide bulletins, traveling libraries, lectures, cor¬ 
respondence work, classes for systematic instruction, or meetings 
for the reading and discussion of papers, and to that end to 
cooperate with the University of Illinois. 

SEC. 46. The Mining Board, in the Department of Mines and 
Minerals, shall: 

1. Hold such meetings, from time to time, as may be neces¬ 
sary for the proper discharge of its duties; 

2. Conduct the examination and pass upon the practical and 
technological qualifications and personal fitness of all persons 
employed in the Department of Mines and Minerals as inspectors 
of mines; 

3. Conduct examinations and pass upon the practical and 
technological qualifications and personal fitness of persons seek¬ 
ing certificates of competency as mine managers, mine exam¬ 
iners, and hoisting engineers; 

4. Conduct examinations, at the capitol, on the second Tues¬ 
day in September of each year and at such other times as may 
be necessary, of candidates for employment as inspectors of 
mines; 

5. Conduct examinations of persons seeking certificates of 
competency as mine managers, mine examiners, and hoisting 
engineers, at such times and places within the state as shall, in 
the judgment of the board, afford the best facilities to the great¬ 
est number of candidates; 

6. Give public notice, through the public press, or otherwise, 
not less than ten days in advance, announcing the time and place 
at which any examination is to be held; 

7. Prescribe uniform rules, conditions, and regulations for 
the examination of persons seeking employment as Inspectors 
of mines and of those seeking certificates of competency as mine 
managers, mine examiners, and hoisting engineers; 

8. Report in writing to the Director of Mines and Minerals 
the names of persons qualified to be employed by the Depart- 


APPENDIX 


289 


ment of Mines and Minerals as inspectors of mines, and of those 
authorized to receive certificates of competency as mine man¬ 
agers, mine examiners, and hoisting engineers; 

9. Supervise, control, and direct the state mine inspection 
service; 

10. Have power to remove any inspector of mines or to 
cancel the certificate of any mine manager, mine examiner, or 
hoisting engineer, as provided in paragraphs (h) and (i) of 
Section 3 of an Act entitled, “An Act to revise the laws in rela¬ 
tion to coal mines and subjects relating thereto, and providing 
for the health and safety of persons employed therein,” approved 
June 6, 1911, in force July 1, 1911, and all amendments thereto, 
past or future, or modifications thereof; 

11. Preserve and keep on file, for not less than one year, all 
written examination papers and all other papers of any applicant, 
and to permit the inspection thereof by any applicant interested, 
at all reasonable times, and to give to any applicant a certified 
copy of any or all of his papers. 

SEC. 47. The Director of Mines and Minerals shall be the exec¬ 
utive officer of the Mining Board and shall execute the orders, 
rules, and regulations made and promulgated by the Mining 
Board, and shall issue, in the name of the Department of Mines 
and Minerals, certificates of qualification and competency to 
persons certified to him by the Mining Board, and to no other 
persons. 

SEC. 48. The Department of Mines and Minerals shall exercise 
and discharge the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the miners’ examining commissioners, constituting the Miners’ 
Examining Board for the State of Illinois, under an act entitled, 
“An Act to provide for the safety to persons employed in and 
about coal mines, and to provide for the examination of persons 
seeking employment therein, in order that only competent per¬ 
sons may be employed as miners, and to create a board of exam¬ 
iners for this purpose, and to provide a penalty for the violation 
of the same, and to repeal an Act entitled, ‘An Act to amend an 
Act entitled, “An Act to provide for the safety of persons 
employed in and about coal mines and to provide for the exam¬ 
ination of persons seeking employment as coal miners, and 
providing penalties for the violation of the same,” approved 
June 1, 1908, in force July 1, 1908,’ approved June 5, 1909, in 


290 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


force July 1, 1909,” approved June 27, 1913 in force July 1, 1913, 
and all amendments thereto, past or future, or modifications 
thereof. 

Said Act and all amendments thereto and modifications 
thereof, if any, shall be administered by the Miners’ Examining 
Board created by this Act, and in its name, without any direc¬ 
tion, supervision or control by the Director of Mines and Min¬ 
erals, or by the mining board. ✓ 

THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND BUILDINGS 

SEC. 49. The Department of Public Works and Buildings shall 
have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Highway Department, the State Highway Commis¬ 
sion, the chief state highway engineer, the assistant state high¬ 
way engineer, and other officers and employees of the state high¬ 
way service; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in “The Canal Commissioners,” their officers, and employees; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Rivers and Lakes Commission of Illinois, its officers and 
employees; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Illinois Waterways Commission, its secretary, chief engi¬ 
neers, its other officers and employees; 

5. To exercise the rights* powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Illinois Park Commission, its officers and employees; 

6,. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Fort Massac Trustees, their officers and employees: 

7. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Lincoln Homestead Trustees, their officers and employees; 

8. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Commissioners of and for the Lincoln Monument 
and Grounds, its officers and employees; 

9. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Superintendent of Printing, his officers and employees; 

10. To make contracts for and superintend the telegraph 
and telephone service for the several departments; 

11. To purchase and supply all fuel, light, water, and other 
like office and building services for the several departments 


4 


APPENDIX 291 

except where the same are now supplied by the Secretary of 
State. 

12. To procure and supply all furniture, general office equip¬ 
ment, and general office supplies (other than stationery and office 
supplies distributed through the office of the Secretary of State) 
needed by the several departments; 

13. To procure and supply all clothing, instruments, and 
apparatus, subsistence, and provisions for the charitable, penal, 
and reformatory institutions; 

14. To procure and supply all cots, beds, bedding, general 
room and cell equipment, table, kitchen and laundry equipment, 
agricultural implement, harness, stable and garage supplies, 
household supplies, periodicals, machinery and tools, medicines 
and medical supplies, plumbing, light and engine supplies, 
wagons and other vehicles, and workshop supplies needed by the - 
several departments; 

14a. To purchase and supply all necessary tools, machinery,, 
supplies, and materials to be used by the state in or about con¬ 
structing or maintaining state highways; 

15. To prepare, or cause to be prepared, general plans, pre¬ 
liminary sketches and estimates for the public buildings to be 
erected for any department; 

16. To have general supervision over the erection and con¬ 
struction of public buildings erected for any department, and 
over the inspection of all materials previous to their incorpora¬ 
tion into such buildings or work; 

17. To make contracts for, and supervise the construction 
and repair of buildings under the control of any department; 

18. To prepare and suggest comprehensive plans for the 
development of grounds and buildings under the control of any 
department. 

19. To make and provide all drawings, plans, specifications, 
and models for the construction and perfection of all systems of 
sewerage, drainage, and plumbing for the state in connection 
with the buildings and grounds under the control of any depart¬ 
ment; 

20. To erect, supervise, and maintain all public monuments 
and memorials erected by the state except where the supervision' 
and maintenance thereof is otherwise provided by law; 


292 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


21. To lease, for a term not exceeding two years, storage 
accommodations for the several departments; 

22. To lease, for a term not exceeding two years, unpro¬ 
ductive and unused lands or other property under the control 
of any department, unless longer leases thereof are expressly 
authorized by some law enforced by the department; 

23. To lease, for a term not exceeding two years, office space 
in buildings for the use of the several departments; 

24. To have general supervision and care of storerooms and 
• offices leased for the use of the departments. 

SEC. 50. The advisory and nonexecutive boards in the Depart¬ 
ment of Public Works shall discharge the following advisory 
powers and functions: 

The Board of Art Advisors shall advise relative to the artistic 
character of state buildings, works, and monuments, now or here¬ 
after constructed, and to any work of a permanent character 
intended for decoration or commemoration; 

The Board of Water Resource Advisors shall advise relative 
to riparian rights of the state, and the conservation, use, and 
development of water resources; 

The Board of Highway Advisors shall advise relative to the 
construction, improvement, and maintenance of state highways; 

The Board of Parks and Buildings Advisors shall advise rela¬ 
tive to the construction, improvement, and maintenance of state 
parks, buildings, and monuments. 

SEC. 51. The Director of Public Works is authorized, with the 
consent in writing of the Governor, to acquire, by private pur¬ 
chase or by condemnation under the Eminent Domain Act, the 
necessary lands for the public buildings and grounds for the 
departments. 

SEC. 52. All moneys received by the Director of Public Works 
from rents, leases, sale of property or from any other source in 
connection with the management of the Illinois and Michigan 
Canal shall be covered into the state treasury, and shall be placed 
by the State Treasurer to the credit of a special fund to be 
known as the “Illinois and Michigan Canal fund.’" 

THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE 

SEC. 53. The Department of Public Welfare shall have power: 

X. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 


APPENDIX 


293- 


in the Board of Administration, the fiscal supervisor, and other 
officers and employees of the Board of Administration; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Deportation Agent, his assistants, other officers- 
and employees; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Agent for the Visitation of Children, his assistants, 
other officers and employees; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the commissioners, warden, deputy wardens, chaplains, phy¬ 
sicians, stewards, matrons, turnkeys, watchmen, and all other 
officers and employees of the Illinois State Penitentiary of Joliet; 

5. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the commissioners, warden, deputy warden, chaplain, physician, 
steward, matron, turnkeys, watchmen and all other officers and 
employees of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary; 

6. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Managers of the Illinois State Reformatory, its 
superintendent, chaplain, physician, and all other officers and 
employees; 

7. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Prison Industries of Illinois, its officers and 
employees; 

8. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Prison Industries of Illinois, the president of the 
State Board of Public Charities, and the Auditor of Publicr 
Accounts of Illinois, constituting a board known as the Board of 
Classification, its officers and employees; 

9. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law irr 
the Board of Pardons, its secretary and other officers and 
employees. 

SEC. 54. The Board of Public Welfare Commissioners shall, in 
addition to the power vested by this Act in advisory and non¬ 
executive boards, have power, and it shall be its duty: 

1. To investigate into the condition and management of the 
whole system of charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions 
of the state, including state hospitals, penitentiaries, reforma¬ 
tories, jails, and almshouses; 

2. To investigate, when directed by the Governor, Into any 
or all phases of the equipment, management or policy of an y 


294 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


state charitable, penal, or reformatory institution, and report its 
findings and recommendations to the Governor; 

3. To inquire into the equipment, management, and policies 
of all institutions and organizations coming under the super¬ 
vision and inspection of the Department of Public Welfare; 

4. To collect and publish annually statistics relating to insan¬ 
ity and crime. 


THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

SEC. 55. The Department of Public Health shall have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Health, its secretary and executive officer, 
other officers and employees, except the rights, powers, and 
duties vested by law in the State Board of Health under the Act 
to Regulate the Practice of Medicine and the Act to Regulate 
the Practice of Embalming; 

2. To have the general supervision of the interests of the 
health and lives of the people of the state; 

3. To act in advisory capacity relative to public water sup¬ 
plies, water purification works, sewerage system, and sewage 
treatment works, and to exercise supervision over nuisances 
growing out of the operation of such water and sewage works, 
and to make, promulgate, and enforce rules and regulations relat¬ 
ing to such nuisances; 

4. To make such sanitary investigations as it may, from time 
to time, deem necessary for the preservation and improvement 
of public health; 

5. To make examinations into nuisances and questions 
affecting the security of life and health in any locality in the 
state; 

6. To maintain chemical, bacteriological, and biological labo¬ 
ratories, to make examinations of milk, water, sewage, wastes, 
and other substances, and to make such diagnosis of diseases as 
may be deemed necessary for the protection of the people of the 
state; 

7. To purchase and distribute free of charge to citizens of 
the state diphtheria antitoxin, typhoid vaccine, smallpox vaccine, 
and other sera, vaccines, and prophylactics such as are of recog¬ 
nized efficiency in the prevention and treatment of communicable 
diseases; 


APPENDIX 


295 


8. To obtain, collect, and preserve such information relative 
to mortality, morbidity, disease, and health as may be useful in 
the discharge of its duties or may contribute to the promotion 
of health or to the security of li'fe in this state; 

9. To make investigations and inquiries with respect to the 
causes of disease, especially epidemics, and to investigate the 
causes of mortality and the effect of localities' and other condi¬ 
tions upon the public health, and to make such other sanitary 
investigations as it may deem necessary for the preservation 
and improvement of the public health; 

10. To keep informed' of the work of local health officers 
and agencies throughout the state; 

11. To promote the information of the general public in all 
matters pertaining to public health; 

12. To supervise, aid, direct, and assist local health authori¬ 
ties or agencies in the administration of the health laws; 

13. To enlist the cooperation of organizations of physicians 
and other agencies for the promotion of the public health in the 
improvement of health and sanitary conditions throughout the 
state; 

14. To make sanitary, sewage, health, and other inspections 
and examinations for the charitable, penal, and reformatory insti¬ 
tutions and the normal schools; 

15. To inspect, from time to time, all hospitals, sanitaria, and 
other institutions conducted by county, city, village, or town¬ 
ship authorities, and to report as to the sanitary conditions and 
needs of such hospitals, sanitaria, and institutions to the official 
authority having jurisdiction over them; 

16. To print, publish, and distribute documents, reports, bul¬ 
letins, certificates, and other matter relating to the prevention of 
diseases and the health and sanitary condition of the state. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND COMMERCE 

SEC. 56. The Department of Trade and Commerce shall have 
power: 

1. To exercise through the Public Utilities Commission 
created by this Act all the rights, powers, and duties vested by 
law in the State Public Utilities Commission, its officers and 
employees; 


296 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Insurance Superintendent, his officers and employees; 

3. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Chief Inspector of Grain, deputy grain inspectors, deputy 
chief grain inspector, and the warehouse registrar, the assistant 
warehouse registrars, state weighmasters, assistant state weigh- 
masters, and other officers and employees of the grain inspection 
service; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the inspectors of automatic couplers, power brakes, and grab 
irons or hand holds on railroad locomotives, tenders, cars, and 
similar vehicles, their officers and employees; 

5. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Fire Marshal, deputy state fire marshal, inspectors 
and other officers and employees of the State Fire Marshal; 

6. To execute and administer all laws and regulations, now 
or hereafter enacted, relating to weights and measures; 

7. To execute and administer all laws and regulations, now 
or hereafter enacted, relating to standards of quantity and qual¬ 
ity of and for commodities; 

8. To execute and administer all laws and regulations, now 
or hereafter enacted, relating to the safety and purity of illumi¬ 
nating oils and gasoline. 

SEC. 57. The Public Utilities Commission created by this Act 
shall exercise and discharge the rights, powers, and duties vested 
by law in the State Public Utilities Commission under an Act 
entitled, “An Act to Provide for the Regulation of Public Utili¬ 
ties,” approved June 30, 1913, in force January 1, 1914, or any 
future amendments thereto or modifications thereof. 

Said Act and all amendments thereto and modifications 
thereof, if any, shall be administered by the Pp'blic Utilities 
Commission created by this Act, and in its name, without any 
direction, supervision or control by the Director of Trade and 
Commerce. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION 

SEC. 58. The Department of Registration and Education shall 
have power: 

1. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Education of the State of Illinois, the board of 


APPENDIX 


297 


trustees of the Southern Normal University at Carbondale, the 
board of trustees of the Northern Illinois State Normal School at 
DeKalb, the board of trustees of the Eastern Illinois State Nor¬ 
mal School at Charleston, and the board of trustees of the 
Western Illinois State Normal School at Macomb; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Veterinary Examiners and the State Board of 
Live Stock Commissioners relating to the practice of veterinary 
medicine and surgery in the State of Illinois; 

2. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Board of Examiners of Horseshoers; 

4. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
•in the State Board of Examiners of Architects; 

5. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law in 
the State Board of Examiners of Structural Engineers; 

6. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Health relating to the practice of medicine, 
or any of the branches thereof, or midwifery; 

7. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Health relating to the regulation of the 
embalming and disposal of dead bodies, and for a system of 
examination, registration, and licensing of embalmers; 

8. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Pharmacy; 

9. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Illinois State Board of Dental Examiners; 

10. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the Illinois State Board of Nurse Examiners; 

11. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Optometry; 

12. To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested by law 
in the State Board of Barber Examiners, its officers and em¬ 
ployees; 

13. To investigate and study the natural resources of the 
state and to prepare plans for the conservation and development 
of the natural resources, and for that purpose the officers and 
employees thereof may enter and cross all lands in this state, 
doing no damage to private property; 

14. To cooperate with and advise departments having admin¬ 
istrative powers and duties relating to the natural resources of 


298 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


the state, and to cooperate with similar departments in other 
states and with the United States Government; 

15. To conduct a natural history survey of the state, giving 
preference to subjects of educational and economic importance; 

16. To publish, from time to time, reports covering the entire 
field of zoology and botany of the state; 

17. To maintain a state museum, and to collect and preserve 
objects of scientific and artistic value, representing past and pres¬ 
ent fauna and flora, the life and works of man, geological history, 
natural resources, and the manufacturing and fine arts; 

18. To supply natural history specimens to the state educa¬ 
tional institutions and to the public schools; 

19. To investigate the entomology of the state; 

20. To investigate all insects dangerous or injurious to agri¬ 
cultural or horticultural plants and crops, live stock, to nursery 
trees and plants, to the products of the truck farm and vegetable 
garden, to shade trees and other ornamental vegetation of cities 
and villages, to the products of the mills and the contents of 
warehouses, and all insects injurious or dangerous to the public 
health; 

21. To conduct experiments with methods for the preven¬ 
tion, arrest, abatement, and control of insects injurious to per¬ 
sons or property; 

22. To instruct the people, by lecture, demonstration or bul¬ 
letin, in the best methods of preserving and protecting their 
property and health against injuries by insects; 

23. To publish, from time to time, articles on the injurious 
and beneficial insects of the state; 

24. To study the geological formation of the state with 
reference to its resources of coal, ores, clays, building stones, 
cement, materials suitable for use in the construction of roads, 
gas, mineral and artesian water, and other products; 

25. To publish, from time to time, topographical, geological, 
and other maps to illustrate the resources of the state; 

26. To publish, from time to time, bulletins giving a general 
and detailed description of the geological and mineral resources 
of the state; 

27. To cooperate with the United States Geological Survey 
in the preparation and completion of a contour topographical 
survey and map: 


APPENDIX 


299 


28. To collect facts and data concerning the water resources 
of the state; 

29. To determine standards of purity of drinking water for 
the various sections of the state; 

30. To publish, from time to time, the results of its investiga¬ 
tions of the waters of the state to the end that the available 
water resources of the state may be better known and that the 
welfare of the people in the various communities may be con¬ 
served; 

31. To make analyses of samples of water from municipal 
or private sources; 

32. To distribute, in its discretion, to the various educational 
institutions of the state, specimens, samples, and materials col¬ 
lected by it after the same have served the purposes of the 
department. 

SEC. 59. The Normal School Board, of which the Director of 
Registration and Education shall * be chairman and ex officio 
member, and of which the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
shall ex officio be a member and shall be secretary, shall have 
power and it shall be its duty, independently of the supervision, 
direction or control of the director or any other officer of the 
Department of Registration and Education; 

1. To make rules, regulations and by-laws, not inconsistent 
with law, for the good government and management of the 
state normal schools and the various interests therein; 

2. To visit each state normal school at least once during 
each scholastic year for the purpose of making an inspection of 
its condition and work and gathering such information as will 
enable them to perform their duties intelligently and effectively; 

3. To employ, and, for good cause, remove a president of 
each state normal school and all necessary professors, teachers, 
instructors, and other educational assistants, and all other neces¬ 
sary employees, and fix their respective salaries; 

4. To prescribe the course of study to be followed, and 
textbooks and apparatus'to be used in each state normal school; 

5. To issue, upon the recommendation of the faculties of the 
respective normal schools, diplomas to such persons as shall 
have satisfactorily completed the required studies of the respec¬ 
tive state normal schools, and confer such professional degrees 


300 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


as are usually conferred by other institutions of like character 
for similar or equivalent courses of study; 

• 6. To examine into the conditions, management, and admin¬ 
istration of the state normal schools; 

7. To succeed to and to administer all trusts and trust prop¬ 
erty now or hereafter belonging or pertaining to any of the state 
normal universities or schools. 

SEC. 60. The Department of Registration and Education shall, 
wherever the several laws regulating professions, trades, and 
occupations which are devolved upon the department for admin¬ 
istration so require, exercise, in its name, but subject to the 
provisions of this Act, the following powers: 

1. Conduct examinations to ascertain the qualifications and 
fitness of applicants to exercise the profession, trade, or occu¬ 
pation for which an examination is held; and pass upon the qual¬ 
ifications of applicants for reciprocal licenses, certificates, and 
authorities; 

2. Prescribe rules and regulations for a fair and wholly 
impartial method of examination of candidates to exercise the 
respective professions, trades or occupations; 

3. Prescribe rules and regulations defining, for the respective 
professions, trades, and occupations, what shall constitute a 
school, college, or university, or department of a university, or 
other institutions, reputable and in good standing and to deter¬ 
mine the reputability and good standing of a school, college or 
university, or department of a university, or other institution, 
reputable and in good standing, by a reference to a compliance 
with such rules and regulations; 

4. Adopt rules providing for and establishing a uniform and 
reasonable standard of maintenance, instruction, and training to 
be observed by all schools for nurses which are to be deemed 
reputable and in good standing and to determine the reputability 
and good standing of such schools for nurses by reference to 
compliance with such rules and regulations; 

5. Establish a standard of preliminary education deemed 
requisite to admission to a school, college, or university, and to 
require satisfactory proof of the enforcement of such standard by 
schools, colleges, and universities; 

6. Conduct hearings on proceedings to revoke or refuse 
renewal of licenses, certificates or authorities of persons exer- 


APPENDIX 


301 


cising the respective professions, trades or occupations, and to 
revoke or refuse to renew such licenses, certificates or author¬ 
ities; 

7. Formulate rules and regulations when required in any act 
to be administered. 

None of the above enumerated functions and duties shall be 
exercised by the Department of Registration and Education, 
except upon the action and report in writing of persons desig¬ 
nated from time to time by the Director of Registration and 
Education to take such action and' to make such report, for the 
respective professions, trades, and occupations, as follows: 

For the veterinary practitioners, three competent veterinary 
surgeons, not more than two of whom shall be graduates of the 
same veterinary college, and neither of whom shall be connected 
with any veterinary college in any capacity; 

For the horseshoers, five persons, consisting of three prac¬ 
tical master horseshoers, who have been for at least three years 
prior to their designation engaged in the occupation of horse¬ 
shoeing in this state, and two journeymen horseshoers, who 
have been for at least three years prior to their designation 
engaged in the occupation of horseshoeing as journeyman horse¬ 
shoers in this state; 

For the architects, five persons, one of whom shall be a 
member of the faculty of the University of Illinois, and the other 
four of whom shall be architects residing in this state, who have 
been engaged in the practice of architecture at least ten years; 

For the structural engineers, five persons, one of whom shall 
be a professor in the civil engineering department of the Uni¬ 
versity of Illinois, and the others of whom shall be structural 
engineers of recognized standing, who have had not less than ten 
years’ practical experience, then practicing as structural engi¬ 
neers in this state; 

For the medical practitioners, embalmers, and midwives, five 
persons, all of whom shall be reputable physicians licensed to 
practice medicine and surgery in this state, no one of whom shall 
be an officer, trustee, instructor or stockholder or otherwise 
interested directly or indirectly in any medical college or medical 
institution. For the purpose of preparing questions and rating 
papers on practice peculiar to any school, graduates of which 
may be candidates for registration or license, one director may 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


302 

designate additional examiners whenever occasion may require; 

For the pharmacists, five persons, each of whom shall be a 
competent registered pharmacist, in the state, and shall have 
had ten years’ practical experience in the dispensing of physi¬ 
cians’ prescriptions since such registration; 

For the dentists, five persons, each of whom has been a 
licensed practitioner of dentistry or dental surgery in this state 
for a period of five years or more, and no one of whom is in any 
way connected with or interested in any dental college or dental 
department of any institution of learning; 

For the registered nurses, five persons, each of whom is a 
registered nurse in this state and has been graduated for at least 
a period of five years from a school for nurses in good standing, 
and, during the course of training, has served for two years in a 
general hospital, and three of whom shall have had at least two 
years’ experience in education work among nurses; 

For the optometrists, five persons from among such practic¬ 
ing optometrists of the state as have had not less than five years* 
practical experience in optometry, no one of whom is a member 
of any optical school or college or instructor in optometry or 
person connected in any way therewith, or is a manufacturer^ 
jobber or jobbing representative; 

For the barbers, three practical barbers, each of whom has 
been for at least five years preceding his designation engaged in 
the occupation of barbering in this state. 

The action or report in writing of a majority of the persons 
designated for any given trade, occupation or profession, shall 
be sufficient authority upon which the director of registration 
and education may act. 

In making the designation of persons to act for the several 
professions, trades, and occupations, the director shall give due 
consideration to recommendations by members of the respective 
professions, trades, and occupations and by organizations therein. 

Whenever the director is satisfied that substantial justice has 
not been done either in an examination or in the revocation of or 
refusal to renew a license, certificate or authority, he may order 
reexaminations or rehearings by the same or other examiners. 

SEC. 61. All certificates, licenses, and authorities shall be issued 
by the Department of Registration and Education, in the name 
of such department, with the seal thereof attached. 


APPENDIX 


303 


SEC. 62. Unless otherwise provided by law, the functions and 
duties formerly exercised by the State Entomologist, the State 
Laboratory of Natural History, the State Water Survey, and the 
State Geological Survey and vested by this Act in the Depart¬ 
ment of Registration and Education, shall continue to be exer¬ 
cised at the University of Illinois in buildings and places 
provided by the trustees thereof. 

SEC. 63. The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation, 
acting through five or more subcommittees, each of which shall 
be composed of the Director of Registration and Education, the 
President of the University of Illinois, or his representative, and 
the expert advisor specially qualified in each of the fields of 
investigation, shall: 

1. Consider and decide all matters pertaining to natural 
history, geology, water and water resources, forestry, and allied 
research, investigational and scientific work; 

2. Select and appoint, without reference to the State Civil 
Service Law, members of the scientific staff, prosecuting such 
research, investigational and scientific work; 

3. Cooperate with the University of Illinois in the use of 
scientific staff and equipment; 

4. Cooperate with the various departments In research, 
investigational and scientific work useful in the prosecution of 
the work in any department. 

The Board of State Museum Advisors shall advise the Director 
of Education and Registration in all matters pertaining to main¬ 
tenance, extension, and usefulness of the State Museum. 

REPEAL 

SEC. 64. The following Acts and parts of Acts are hereby 
repealed; 

“An Act to secure the enforcement of the law for the pre¬ 
vention of cruelty to animals,” approved May 25, 1877, in force 
July 1, 1877; 

i“An act to create the court of Claims and to prescribe its 
powers and duties,” approved May 16, 1903, in force July 1, 1903; 

“An Act to secure the collection and publication of agricul¬ 
tural and other statistics,” approved and in force May 25, 1877; 


i The law providing for the Court of Claims was reenacted June 
25 , 1917 . 



304 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


“An Act to establish and maintain a laboratory for the pro¬ 
duction of hog cholera serum and other biological products, for 
free distribution to the live stock producers of the State of Illi¬ 
nois, and making an appropriation therefor,” approved June 10, 
1909, in force July 1, 1909; 

“An Act to create a bureau of labor statistics and statistical 
details of manufacturing industries and commerce of the state, 
and to provide for a board of commissioners and secretary, and 
repealing certain Acts therein named,” approved June 10, 1909, in 
force July 1, 1909; 

“An Act to prevent accidents in mines and other industrial 
plants, and to conserve the resources of the state by the estab¬ 
lishment of Illinois miners’ and mechanics’ institutes, and for 
the administration and support of the same,” approved May 25, 
1911, in force July 1, 1911; 

“An Act creating the office of Supervising Architect of the 
State of Illinois and defining his powers and duties,” approved 
April 24, 1899, in force July 1, 1899; 

“An Act creating the office of Supervising Engineer for the 
General Assembly, its members and committees, and the Board 
of Administration of the State of Illinois, and fixing his com¬ 
pensation,” approved June 10, 1911, in force July 1, 1911; 

“An Act conferring upon the Board of Administration of the 
State of Illinois the power to condemn and take real estate as 
therein named,” approved May 27, 1911, in force July 1, 1911; 

Sections 5 and 7 of an Act entitled, “An Act to revise the 
laws relating to charities, approved June 11, 1912, in force July 
1, 1912; 

“An Act conferring upon the State Board of Agriculture the 
power to condemn and take real estate through the exercise of 
the right of eminent domain,” approved June 26, 1913, in force 
July 1, 1913; 

“An Act to create a State Art Commission, and to define its 
powers and duties,” approved June 4, 1909, in force July 1, 1909; 

“An Act creating the office of State Inspector of Masonry, 
Public Buildings and Works, and prescribing qualifications, duties, 
and compensation,” approved June 28, 1915, in force July 1, 1915; 

Sections 5 and 7 of an Act entitled, “An Act to revise the 
laws relating to charities,” approved June 11, 1912, in force July 
1, 1912; 


APPENDIX 


305 


Section 9 of an Act entitled, “An Act to revise the law in rela¬ 
tion to the sentence and commitment of persons convicted of 
crime, and providing for a system of parole, and to provide com¬ 
pensation for the officers of said system of parole,” approved 
April 21, 1899, in force July 1, 1899; 

“An Act for the appointment of a State Entomologist,” 
approved and in force March 9, 1867; 

“An Act to provide for the office of the State Entomologist, 
to define its duties, and to extend its equipment,” approved May 
25, 1907, in force July 1, 1907; 

“An Act to establish a State Historical Library and Natural 
History Museum, to provide for its care and maintenance, and to 
appropriate money therefor,” approved May 25, 1877, in force 
July 1, 1877; 

“An Act respecting the State Laboratory of Natural History 
and the State Entomologist’s office,” approved June 27, 1885, in 

force July 1, 1885; 

“An Act to establish a chemical survey of the waters of the 
State of Illinois,” approved June 7, 1897, in force July 1, 1897; 

“An Act to establish and create at the University of Illinois 
the bureau to be known as the State Geological Survey, defin¬ 
ing its duties and providing for the preparation and publication 
of its reports and maps to illustrate the natural resources of the 
state, and making appropriations therefor,” approved May 12, 
1905, in force July 1, 1905; 

Section 6 of the Act entitled, “An Act to prevent the introduc¬ 
tion and spread in Illinois of the San Jose scale and other dan¬ 
gerous insects and contagious diseases of fruits, and repealing a 
certain Act therein named,” filed June 4, 1907, in force July 1, 
1907; 

“An Act imposing new and additional duties upon the State 
Water Survey, and making appropriations therefor,” approved 
May 25, 1911, in force July 1, 1911. 

SEC. 65. The following Act is also hereby repealed: “An Act 
to revise the law in relation to the Department of Agriculture, 
agricultural societies and agricultural fairs, and to provide for 
reports of the same,” approved June 23, 1883, in force July 1, 
1883, but the repeal of said Act shall not take effect or be in 
force until the first day of January, A. D. 1919. 


306 


ILLINOIS AND THE NATION 


AMENDMENT OF CIVIL CODE 

When the law was amended in 1921, the salaries of nineteen 
officials under the code were increased. The increases are tabulated 
as follows: 

Original New 


Official Salary Salary 

Assistant director of finance.$4,200 $4,800 

Director of agriculture.... 6,000 7,000 

Director of labor. 5,000 7,000 

Assistant director of labor... 3,000 4,000 

Chief factory inspector. 3,000 4,000 

Chief inspector of private employment agencies. 3,000 4,000 

Director of mines and minerals.._.. 5,000 7,000 

Assistant director of public works and buildings.. 4,000 5,000 

Superintendent of highways. 5,000 6,000 

Supervising architect .. 4,000 5,000 

Supervising engineer . 4,000 5,000 

Superintendent of prisons... ; 5,000 6,000 

Superintendent of pardons and paroles. 5,000 6,000 

Director of public health.....'......... 6,000 7,000 

Assistant director of public health..... 3,600 4,200 

Superintendent of lodging house inspection. 3,000 4,000 

Assistant director of trade and commerce.. 4,000 5,000 

Fire marshal .—. 3,000 4,000 

Director of registration and education.. 5,000 7,000 


By a ruling of the Illinois Supreme Court, these increased 
salaries could not be drawn by those in office at the time the 
increase was made, because the state constitution does not 
permit any official to profit by an increase in salary voted during his 
incumbency. 

The amended code also made the tax commission a part of the 
department of finance, and its five commissioners and statistician 
were added to the officials of the department. 

In the department of public works and buildings, the office of 
chief highway engineer was eliminated; In the department of trade 
and commerce, the secretary of the Illinois Commerce Commission 
was added to the list of officials, at a salary of $5,000 a year. 























INDEX 


Accounts, 35 
Adjutant General, 121 
Administrators, Public, 124 
Advisory Boards, 116, 117, 267-270; 
duties of, 270 

Advisory vote on President, 168 
Agricultural Advisors, 116, 267, 268 
Agriculture, Department of, Nation¬ 
al, 181; Secretary of, 181 
Agriculture, Department of, State, 
109, 116, 122, 264, 265, 267, 271; 
powers and duties, 109, 110, 283; 
Director of, 109, 265, 271 
Aldermen 79, 80 
Alienist, 113, 266, 272 
Alliances of states, 192 
Ambassadors, 177 

Amendments to the Constitution, Na¬ 
tional, 139, 141, 148, 163, 184, 
194, 213 

Animal Industry, Superintendent of, 
109, 265, 271 
Anti-trust law, 151 
Appellate courts, 43, 44 
Appropriations, 28, 29 
Architect, Supervising, 112, 266, 272 
Army, United States, 156, 157 
Art Advisors, Board of, 113, 117, 
267, 268, 292 

Articles of Confederation, 133 
Assessor, 73 

Attorney General, State, 19, 33-35, 41 
Attorney General of United States, 

180 

Auditor, Administrative, 108, 265, 

270 

Auditor, State, 19, 29, 33-35, 39 
Auditor’s Warrant, 29, 40 
Australian System, 67 


Budget, Superintendent of, 108, 265, 
270 

Buildings, State, 122 

Cabinet, President’s 182 
Canvassing Board, 123 

Charitable Institutions, State, 114, 
119, 120 

Charities, Superintendent of, 113, 

266, 272 

Charters, 39; cities under special, 
79; special prohibited, 27 
Circuit Courts, state, 44-47 
Circuit Courts of Appeal, 188 
Circuits, Judicial, 126-132, 189 
Cities, 53 

Citizenship, 105-107, 190 

City and Village Government, 53, 

79-89; aldermen, 79; assessor, 81; 
attorney, 82; board of health, 76; 
cities under general law, 79; cities 
under special charters, 79; clerk, 
81; collector, 81; comptroller, 82; 
corporation counsel, 82; council, 
79; courts, 82; elections, 83; mar¬ 
shal, 83; mayor, 80; policeman, 
83; salary of aldermen, 80; super¬ 
intendent of streets, 82 ; taxes, 80 ; 
treasurer, 81; wards, 79. 

Civil Administrative Code, 108-118; 

complete, 264-305 
Civil rights, 162, 193 
Civil Service, National, 173 
Civil Service, State, 123, 275 
Coasting trade, 162 
Coining money, 153 
Collector, 74 

Commerce, 150; Department of, 181 
Commission Form of Municipal 
Government, 84-89; abandonment 
of commission form, 89; council, 
85; election, 84; executive depart¬ 
ment, 86; initiative, 87; nomina¬ 
tion, 84; officers, 84; organization. 


Bail, 77 - 
Ballot Box, 66, 67 
Bankruptcy, 153 


307 


i 



308 


INDEX 


84; recall, 88; referendum, 87; 
salaries, 86 

Commissioner of Deeds, 124 
Commissioners of State Library, 123 
Community, the, 7-11 
Commutation, 37 
Comptroller of Currency, 179 
Congress, 136; adjournments, 145; 
apportionments, 138; bills for 
revenue, 140; borrowing money, 
149; commerce, 150; disabilities, 
146; duties, 147, 161, 193; eligi¬ 
bility, 137, 142; impeachment, 140, 
143; journals, 145; meetings, 
144; membership, 144; oath, 146; 
officers, 140, 142; powers, 146- 

159, 186, execution of, 159; limi¬ 
tation of, 160-163; privileges, 145 ; 
quorum, 144; rules, 145; salaries, 
145; taxes, 147, 161; vacancies, 
139; yeas and nays, 145 
Congressional Apportionment, 138 
Congressional districts, 126, map, 130 
Congressional ratio, 138 
Congressional township, 49 
Congressmen at large, 138 
Constables, 78 
Constitution of Illinois, 219 
Constitution of United States, 135, 
200 

Constitutional Convention, National, 

139, 142 . 

Constitutional Convention, State, 125 
Consuls, 172, 177 
Conventions, National, 167 
Cook County Commissioners, 57 
Cook County Courts, 46 
Copyrights, 155 
Coroner, 64 

Corporation Counsel, 82 

Council of Defense, National, 196 

Counterfeiting, 154 

Counties, 49, 126-128; map, 129 

Counties, population of, 129 

County boundaries, 129 

County Commissioners, Board of, 57 

County Court, 61 

County Government, 54-65; clerk, 
58; commissioners, 57; coroner, 
64; court, 61; executive depart¬ 
ment, 57; judicial department, 61; 
legislative department, 54; re¬ 
corder, 59; seat, 54; superinten¬ 
dent of highways, 60; superinten¬ 


dent of schools, 94; supervisors, 
board of, 54, 55; surveyor, 60; 
tax, 55; treasurer, 59 
County Organization, 52 
Court of Claims, State, 44 
Court of Claims, United States, 190 
Courts of Cook County, 46 
See also names of courts 
Credentials, 19 
Criminologist, 113, 266, 272 
Customs, Commissioner of, 179 

Declaration of Independence, 133 
Deeds, Commissioner of, 124 
Department Reports, Superintendent 
of, 108, 265, 270 
Departments, see name of depart¬ 
ment 

Deposition, 125 
Diplomatic Bureau, 176 
District Courts, 189 
District of Columbia, 157 
Domestic Bureau, 178 
Drainage Districts, 33 
Duties, 147, 161, 193 

Education, 90-107; Board of, 105; 
Department of Registration and, 
115, 117, 122, 264, 267, 273, 296- 
Education, Vocational, 97 
Educational Institutions, 119, 120 
Election, Certificates of, 19 
Electoral College, 168 
Electoral count bill, 165, 166 
Electoral Districts, 126-128, 130, 131 
Electoral System, 164, 167, 168 
Electors, 158 ^ 

Emergency clause, 25 
Employment Agencies, Private, Chief 
Inspector of, 110, 266, 271 

Employment Offices, Free, Advisors, 

267, 268 

Employment Offices, Free, Superin¬ 
tendent of, 110, 265, 271 
Engineer, Supervising, 112, 266, 272 
Envoys, 177 
Execution, 63 

Executive Department, National, 163, 

176 

Executive Department, State, 33-35 
Exemption laws, 33 
Expenditures, 162 



INDEX 


309 


Exports, Duty on, 161 
Ex post facto laws, 161, 193 
Extradition, 191 

Factory Inspector, Chief, 110, 265, 
271 

Family, the, 10 
Farmer’s Institutes, 119 
Fees of Officers, 28 
Felony, 17, 77 

Finance, Department of, 108, 109, 
122, 264, 265, 270; powers, 281; 
Director of, 108, 265, 270 
Fire Marshal, 115, 266, 273 
Fiscal Supervisor, 113; 266, 272 
Fish and Game Warden, Chief, 109, 
265, 271 

Foods and Dairies, Superintendent of, 

109, 265, 271 

Food Standard Commission, 265 
Food Standard. Officers, 109, 268, 
271 

Fort Massac, 112 
Franchise, 44 
Freedom of Speech, 17 
Freehold, 44 

Game and Fish Warden, Chief, 109, 
265, 271 

General Assembly, 13-33; adjourn¬ 
ment, 23; bills, 24, 25; commit¬ 
tees, 19, 23; contempt, 22; dis¬ 
abilities of members, 17; election 
of members, 14; eligibility of mem¬ 
bers, 16; employees, 21; expulsion 
of members, 22; extra pay, 30; 
extra session, 36; impeachment, 
30; journals, 23, 38; member¬ 

ship, 18; oath of members, 16; of¬ 
ficers, 19-21; open doors, 23; 
organization, 22; president of 
senate, 20; president pro tempore, 
■20; privileges of members, 17; pro¬ 
test of members, 24; quorum, 18; 
rules, 18; salary of members, 17; 
speaker, 19; term, 16; time and 
place of meeting, 14; vacancies, 
15; yeas and nays, 23 
Government, in the community and in 
the nation, 7-11; necessity for, 8 
Governor, 33-37; appointment of of¬ 
ficers, 17, 36, 108; calls extra 

session, 36; command of militia, 
37; election, 34; eligibility, 35; 
executive power, 36; impeach¬ 
ment, 30, 31; message, 36; oath, 
35; pardons, 37; removal of offi¬ 
cers, 37; reprieves, 37; residence, 


34; salary, 37; signature, 26; va¬ 
cancy, 35; veto, 13, 26 
Grain Inspector, Chief, 115, 266, 269, 
273 N 

Grand Jury, 46, 56; indictment by, 
186 

Greenbacks, 150 

Habeas Corpus, 42, 160 
Health, Public, see Public Health 
Highway Commissioner, 74 
Highway Engineer, Chief, 112, 266, 
272 

Highways, Superintendent of, 112, 

266, 272 

Homestead laws, 33 
House of Representatives, National, 
136; adjournments, 145; bills for 
revenue, 140; congressional ap¬ 
portionments, 138; congressmen at 
large, 138; disabilities, 146; du¬ 
ties, 147, 161; eligibility of mem¬ 
bers, 137; impeachment, 140, 143; 
journals, 145; meetings, 144; mem¬ 
bership, 144; oath, 146; officers, 
140; powers, 146, 158; privileges, 
145; quorum, 144; rules, 145; 
salaries, 145; taxes, 147, 161; va¬ 
cancies, 139; yeas and nays, 145 
House of Representatives, State, 13- 
33 

Illinois, University of, 119 
Immunities, 28 

Impeachment, 13, 30, 140, 143 
Indian Affairs, Commissioner of, 181 
Indictment, 46, 186 
Industrial Commission, 110, 266, 287 
Industrial Officers, 110, 268, 271 
Initiative, 87 
Inquest, 64 

Institutions, State, 122 
Insurance, Superintendent of, 115, 
266, 272 

Interest, Rate of, 28 
Interior, Department of, 181 
Internal Revenue, Commissioner of, 
179 

Interstate Commerce Commission, 

151, 182 

Judges, Federal, 187 
Judicial circuits, 126-128, 132, 189 
Judicial Departments, National, 183 
Judicial Departments, State, 13', 42- 
47 

Judicial Districts, 126-128, 189 


310 


INDEX 


Judicial Powers, 183 
Jurors, 47, 56 
Jury Trial, 185 
Justice, Department of, 180 
Justices of the Peace, 47, 77 

Labor, Department of, 110, 117, 122, 
182, 264, 265, 267, 271; powers 
and duties, 110, 285; Director of, 

110, 265, 271 

Laws, revived or amended, 25; 
special, prohibited, 27; take ef¬ 
fect, 25 

Legislative Department, National, 

136; state, 13 

Legislative Reference Bureau, 122 
Lieutenant-Governor, 37 
Lincoln Homestead, 112, 290 
Lincoln Monument and Grounds, 112, 

290 

Lodging House Inspection, Superin¬ 
tendent of, 114, 266, 272 
Lotteries, prohibited, 32 

Mandamus, 42 

Marque and Reprisal, Letters of, 156 
Master in Chancery, 45 
Mayor, 80 
Militia, 121, 157 
Miners, Protection of, 32 
Miners’ Examining Board, 111, 266 
Miners’ Examining Officers, 111, 
266, 268, 271 

Mines and Minerals, Department of, 

111, 122, 264, 266, 271; duties 
and powers, 111, 287; Director of, 
111, 265, 268, 271 

Mining Board, 111, 266, 273; duties 
and powers, 288 
Ministers, 172, 177 
Minority Representation, 15 
Misdemeanors, 77 

National Conventions, 167 
National Government, 7-11, 133-197; 
Army, 156; Congress, 136; Execu¬ 
tive Department, 163; Historical 
Sketch, 133 ; House of Representa¬ 
tives, 136; Judicial Department, 
183; Legislative Department, 136; 
Navy, 156; President, 163; Senate, 
141; Supreme Court, 187 

Natural Resources and Conservation 
Advisors, 267, 269, 303 
Naturalization, 152 


Navel Cadets, 181 

Navy, United States, 156, 157; De¬ 
partment of, 180; Secretary of, 

181 

Normal School Board, 115, 119, 267, 

269, 273; powers and duties, 116, 
299 

Normal Schools, 116, 119 
Notaries Public, 124 

Pardons, 37, 170 

Pardons and Paroles, Superintendent 

of, 113, 266, 272 

Parks, Superintendent of, 112, 266, 
272 

Parks and Buildings Advisors, Board 

of, 267, 292 

Patents, 155 

Paupers, 72 / 

Penal and Reformatory Institutions, 

113, 120 

Pensions, Commissioner of, 181 
Petit Jury, 46, 56 
Piracy, 155 
“Plank,” 168 

Plant Industry, Superintendent of, 

109, 265, 271 

Platform, Political, 168 
Police Magistrate, 82 
Policemen, 83 

Postmaster-General, 180 
Post Office Department, 154, 180 
Post Offices and Post Roads, 154 
President, The, 163-175; advisory 
vote, 168; appointments, 171, 176; 
cabinet, 182; commander-in-chief, 
170; electoral system, 167; eligi¬ 
bility, 168; how chosen, 164; mes¬ 
sage, 174; national conventions, 
167: oath, 170; pardons, 143, 170; 
salary, 183; succession, 169; veto, 
174 

Primary Elections, 69 

Printing, Superintendent of, 112, 

266, 272 

Prisons, Superintendent of, 113, 266, 

272 

Probate Court, 62 
Prohibition Amendment, 218 
Public Debt, 195 

Public Health, Department of, 114, 

122, 266, 267, 272; duties and 
powers, 114, 294; Director of, 

114, 265, 268, 272. 


INDEX 


311 


Public Instruction, Superintendent 

Of, 92-94, 115, 116, 119, 299 
Public School System, 90-107; act of 
congress, 1818, 90; boards of edu¬ 
cation, 105; branches of study, 
104; citizenship, 105; compul¬ 
sory attendance, 104; county sup¬ 
erintendent of public schools, 94; 
examining board, 97: high school 
privileges, 104; origin, 90; rela¬ 
tion to state government, 91 ; 
Schedules, 104; school directors, 
' 101; school districts, 52; school 
funds, 91; school township, 50; 
state certificates, 92; state super¬ 
intendent of public instruction, 92- 
94, 115, 116, 119, 299; teacher’s 
certificates, 95, 96, 98; teachers’ 
institutes, 95; township high 
schools, 100; township treasurer, 
99, 100; trustees of schools, 98. 
Public Utilities Commission, 115, 

266, 269, 273, 295, 296 

Public Welfare, Department of, 113, 
117, 122, 266, 267, 272; duties 
and powers, 113, 292; Director of, 
113, 265, 272 

Public Welfare Commissioners, Board 
of, 117, 267, 293 

Public Works and Buildings, Depart¬ 
ment of, 112, 117, 122, 264, 266, 

267, 271; duties and powers, 112, 
290; Director of, 112, 265, 271 

Purchases and Supplies, Superintend¬ 
ent of, 112, 266, 272 

Recall, 88 
Referendum, 87 

Registration and Education, Depart¬ 
ment Of, 115, 117, 122, 264, 267, 
273; duties and powers, 116, 296; 
Director of, 115, 116, 119, 265, 
269, 273 

Registration, Superintendent of, 115, 
267, 273 

Registry Blanks, 39 
Religious Freedom, 163 
Reports, state, 35 
Representatives, National, 136 
Representatives, State, 13 
Reprieves, 37, 170 
Requisitions, 191 
Returns of Election, 19, 3'4 
Review, Board of, 74 
“Rider,” 29 

Rights, Civil, 162, 193; of citizens, 
107; of states, 190; personal, 184, 
193, 195 

Road Tax, 75 


Schools, boards of education, 105; 
branches of study, 104; citizen¬ 
ship, 105: compulsory attendance, 
104; county superintendent of 
public schools, 94; districts, 52; 
examining board, 97; high school 
privileges, 104; origin, 90; rela¬ 
tion to state government, 91; 
schedules, 104; school directors, 
101; school districts, 52; school 
funds, 91; school township, 50; 
state certificates, 92; state, 119; 
state superintendent of public in¬ 
struction, 33-35, 92-94, 115, 116, 
299; teachers’ institutes, 95; 
township, 50; township high 
schools, 100; township treasurer, 
100; trustees of schools, 98. 

Seal, State, 38; United States, 176 
Search and Seizure Act, 125 

Secretary of State, Illinois, 38; Na¬ 
tional, 171, 176 

Senate, State, 13-33 

Senate, United States, 141; adjourn¬ 
ment, 145; disabilities, 146; du¬ 
ties. 147, 161; eligibility, 142 ; im¬ 
peachment trials, 143; journal, 
145; meetings, 144; membership, 
144; oath, 146; officers, 142; 
powers, 143, 146-159, 171’; privi¬ 
leges, 145; quorum, 144; rules, 
145; salaries, 145; taxes, 147, 
161; trial of impeachment, 143; 
yeas and nays, 145 
Senatorial Districts, 14, 126-128; 

map, 131 
Sheriff, 44, 62-64 
Slavery, 139, 160, 195 
Spoils System, 174 
Standards, Superintendent of, 115, 
266, 273 

State Boards and Commissions, 122 
State cannot be sued, 31 
State Contracts, 31, 276, 277 
State, Department of, National, 176 
State, Division of the, 49-53 
State Government, 7-11; 13-48; at¬ 
torney-general, 41; auditor, 39: 
executive department, 33; general 
assembly, 13; governor, 33; house 
of representatives, 13; impeach¬ 
ment, 30 ; judicial department, 42 ; 
legislative department, 13 ; lieuten¬ 
ant-governor, 37; secretary of 
state, 38; senate, 13; state house, 
33; supreme court, 42; treasurer, 
40 ' 

State Fair, General Manager of, 109, 
265, 271 



<512 


INDEX 


State Fair Advisors, Board of, 267 
State House, new, 33 
State indebtedness limited, 29 
State Library, Commissioners of, 123 
State Museum Advisors, Board of, 
267, 269 

State Penal and Reformatory Institu¬ 
tions, 120 

State’s Attorney, 64 
States, Admission of, 193; limita¬ 
tions on, 192; protection guaran¬ 
teed to, 191; rights of, 190 

Subpoena, 63 

Succession, presidential, 169 
Suffrage, woman, 69, 218 
Summons, 63 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

county, 94; state, 33-35, 92-94, 

115, il6, 299 

Supervisor of Assessment, 74 
Supervisors, Board of, county, 54, 
55; town, 71, 72 
Supreme Court of Illinois, 42, 43 
Supreme Court of United States, 183, 
187 

Supreme law, 195 

Tax Commission, 118 
Taxes, 68, 147, 16l, 179 
Teachers’ Associations, 95 
Teachers’ Institutes, 95 
Titles of Nobility, 162, 193 
Town Government, 66-78; assessor, 
73; board of appointments, 75; 
board of health, 76; board of re¬ 
view, 74; board of town auditors, 
76; clerk, 66, 72; collector, 74; 
constables, 78; executive depart¬ 
ment, 71; funds, 71;-highway com¬ 
missioners, 74; judicial depart¬ 
ment, 76; justices of peace, 77; 
legislative department, 66; meet¬ 


ing, annual, C6, special, 71; pri¬ 
mary elections, 69; supervisors, 
71; taxes, 68, 75; votes, 69, 70; 
woman suffrage, 69. 

Towns, 50; incorporated, 50, 52; 

new, 55; organized, 50 
Township, 49; congressional, 49; 
school, 50 

Township High Schools, 100 
Township Organization, 51 
Township Treasurer, 100 
Trade and Commerce, Department of 

115, 264, 266, 272; duties and 
powers, 115, 295; Director of, 115, 

265, 272 
Treason, 186 
Treasurer, State, 40 

Treasury Department, National, 178; 

Secretary of, 178 
Treaties, 171 
True bill, 46 

University of Illinois, 119 

Veterinarian, Chief, 109, 265, 271 

Veto, Governor’s, 13, 26, 175; Presi¬ 
dent’s, 174 

Vice-President, 142, 143 
Village and City Government, 53, 79 
Vocational Education, 97 
Voters, 69, 70; duties of,- 106 

War, Department of, 179; power to 
declare, 155; Secretary of, 179 
Warrant, 63; Auditor’s, 29, 40 
Waterways, Superintendent of, 112 

266, 272 

Weights and Measures, 39, 154 
West Point Cadets, 179 
Woman Suffrage, 69 
Woman Suffrage Amendment, 218 



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